Fallout
by Felix Kat
Summary: Santana was born in vault 101 Brittany wasn't... Story of surviving the wastes. Graphic scenes and swearing... Brittana & Feberry. Its Fallout Glee style. Warning rated M for a reason. Additional info inside.
1. Vault 101

Disclaimer: I don't own glee or its characters

AN: warning: This is rated M for a reason. Deals with drugs, rape, violence, prostitution, slavery… graphic scenes, so if that's not your thing turn back now.

Fallout

Vault 101

War… war never changes, since the dawn of human kind when our ancestors first discovered the killing power of rock and bone. Blood has been spilt in the name of everything, from God, to justice, to simple psychotic rage.

In the year 2077 after millennia of armed conflict the destructive nature of man could sustain itself no longer. The world was plunged into an abyss of nuclear fire and radiation. But it was not as some had predicted the end of the world; instead, the apocalypse was simply the prologue to another bloody chapter of human history. For man had succeeded in destroying the world, but war… war never changes. In the early days, thousands were spared the horrors of the holocaust by taking refuge in enormous underground shelters known as vaults, but when they emerged, they had only the hell of the wastes to greet them. All except those in vault 101. For on that fate full day when fire rained from the sky, the giant steel door of vault 101 slid close and never reopened.

It was here you were born, it is here you will die, because in vault 101, no one ever enters, and no one ever leaves.

**Chapter one- Enter the vault**

* * *

><p>"Santana! Come on San wake up … San? Open the door..." loud banging erupts from the metal bedroom door. "SAN!" the insistent pounding jars he sleepy Latina from her dreamless slumber.<p>

"What in the…?" the girl rubs the sleep from her eyes, "Britt is that you?" The young Latina groans as she brings her legs over the edge of the bed. 'It is way too early for this shit.' she thinks as she scratches her Bedhead. She jumps when she hears another loud knock on the vault room door.

Santana Lopez was your average vault occupant. She was a young Latina with beautiful tan skin along with her long flowing black hair. She wasn't very tall, average size you could say, but athletic which was uncommon for most vault dwellers. She was also eighteen years old which meant that she was in her final year of 'school'. However, according to the blonde who was currently pounding on her bedroom door her best characteristic is her 'amazing dark brown eyes'.

"Come on, San! We're going to be late." The cheery muffled voice calls to her. The young blonde waited impatiently outside of her best friend's room.

Brittany Pierce was not your average vault occupant. Unlike most vault dwellers, Brittany was always smiling, or dancing around the corridor. She was beautiful, and tall, taller than most girls her age. Her hair wasn't as long as Santana's, but did flow down past her shoulders. She usually wore it up though. What was most noticeable about her however were her piercing pure blue eyes. For some reason they always sparkled in the fluorescent lights of the vault. Her skin almost looked sun kissed, which was weird since neither of them have ever even seen the sun.

Santana throws a shoe at the open button on the door which opens it for the impatient blonde as she herself finishes pulling on her vault 101 ump suit. There was nothing special about it, since it looked like everyone else's. Blue with yellow accents, along with a worn out 101 printed on the back.

"Good your dressed" Brittany says as she walks into her friend's room and pulls Santana towards the door.

Santana however was practically sleep walking, since her eyes were barely open. She was not a morning person, that much she was sure of. "How are you always up this early… it's not natural." She groans as she is pulled out of her residence.

"Come on San, how aren't you excited. Today is the last day of school. This is the last day we'll spend the whole day together." Brittany pouts, "after we take our goat, you'll be too busy working with your dad in the medical wing, while I'm off working in the vault's pits, or something. So we need to make the most out of the last hours we have together." Brittany hates that they will probably be separated, but she's never been overly scholarly, which meant she would probably be stuck doing some sort of terrible job. Jobs like rat roach extermination, or a security guard. She didn't have the same connections like Santana, since her family had died when she was a baby, so there was no guarantee of where she would be placed. She was still looking forward to graduating from school. 'Cuz who liked school?'

"Britt, " Santana tries to cheer up the blonde, since she couldn't stand seeing Brittany sad "… we will see each other every day no matter what that stupid goat says. It's just a job, and you could still get something you actually want to do. " Santana tries to reassure her. Brittany can't help but smile at the encouraging statement. The two of them have been friends ever since they could remember. She knew that Santana would always be there for her, and she would always be there for Santana.

Brittany was right though, Santana knew she would be placed in the medical wing along side her father, who was the head surgeon in the vault. The long work hours would mean she wouldn't see Brittany as often. Which meant she wouldn't be able to protect Brittany from the cruelties of the vault. Another thing that made Brittany different from most people in the vault was that she trusted people a little too much for Santana's taste.

Santana tucks a random strand of hair behind Brittany's ear. The blonde smiles at the close contact.

"Okay… come on. Let's get this over with." The blonde beams, and extends her pinky to Santana, who without hesitation links their pinky's together, and lets Brittany drag her along the labyrinth like halls of vault 101. They made their way through the vaults cafeteria, making sure to grab some breakfast. Powdered food wasn't the most appetizing, but then again it was the only thing the vault supplied. Brittany stops several times to talk to some of the vaults occupants. One of them was the overseer's daughter Amata. She was older than both of them, but by far their favorite person in the vault. Even though she was nice, Santana always got the feeling she was hiding something from them. That was probably because she was the overseer's daughter, which had to have perks. However, Santana still wanted to figure out what the girl was hiding, she didn't like secrets.

They finally rounded the corner to the learning center. All the vault kids were walking into their respected classrooms, but before the two of them could enter their respected room a voice calls out to them catching their attention.

"Well well well… it's about time you showed up Satan…" Santana grimaced at her nickname, she was known to be a bitch, but the way this guy used her name sent chills down her spine. Santana turns and faces a gang of boys. They were all wearing leather black jackets over their vault suits.

Brittany catches the flash of sadness on her friend's face before it harden before into what Brittany described as the Santana's game face.

"Puckerman… what do you and your little gang want?" Santana says with as much venom she can muster in her voice. She couldn't show weakness, not infornt of this group.

"Whoa Satan…" Puck throws up his hands and laughs, "calm down… the vault Titans don't want anything… plus even if we did want something we definitely wouldn't ask for it." The group of guys smirk I agreement, " I just wanted to talk. The goat is today, and I just wanted to make sure both of my ladies are ready." He winks and reaches out to tuck a strand of hair behind Brittany's ear. "How is my little Cheerio doing?" He smirks. Santana swats his hand away from Brittany.

"Hey Britt, why don't you go inside, and save me a seat." Santana says as she tries to usher Brittany away from Puck and his gang. Brittany can tell she silently pleading with her to do as she asked, even though she didn't want to.

"Yeah, but San…" she tries to argue. The last thing she wanted was to leave h rest friend alone with these guys.

"Please Britt."

Brittany gives her a sad smile. She didn't like Puckerman… he always seems to make Santana sad, and whenever he approached the two of them, Santana would always send her into another room. She once asked Santana why she couldn't stay with her when Puckerman and his gang were around, but all she got in return was a smile and Santana saying 'she was just trying to make sure she was safe, and that if anything would happen to her she would never forgive herself.' This always confused Brittany to no end.

"Okay… just… I'll see you inside." Brittany reluctantly leaves Santana and goes into the classroom.

Santana turns back towards Puckerman… whose eyes are following the blonde who was retreating into the classroom.

"I hate to watch her go… but I love to watch her leave… " The mohawked boy gleams.

"Really Puck?" She wants nothing more than to slug the punk ass boy, but there were rules even she couldn't cross… not without severe consequences.

"What can I say… the girl is fine in all the right places… right boys?" The other gang members all agree with their leader.

"Okay that's it, I don't know what's wrong with you, but Brittany is off limits… I thought we had an agreement?"

Puck laughs. "Is that what you call it babe… you suck my cock, and me and my friends leave your trophy girl alone…" Puck's sickening laugh rings out again. Santana tries her best not to show weakness, this was what she was trying to protect Brittany from. And in the end, that's all that mattered to her.

"That's right… so what the fuck do you think you're doing?" she asks through gritted teeth.

"I guess you could say I'm counting down the hours until you step out of the picture and leave that hot slut, helpless, and all alone." Santana lunges at him, but Puck easily moves out of her way. "Easy babe… pretty soon you will be down in some lab while she's out doing some shit ass job, and if I don't get to her first you know who will…"

"Fuck…" Santana knew there was more than one slime ball pining after Britt.

"Abrams has always had an eye for your girl, and even though I would do anything to snatch her away from you, I would have to go after Abrams as well. The Titans are strong, but you'd have to be a fool to go up against Abrams." Santana was fuming; Artie Abrams had always wanted Brittany for himself, but because he had taken the goat a year ago, it was hard for him to get his slimy hands on her. However the fact they were graduating today would give Abrams the leverage he needed to wheel his way back into her and Britt's life.

Santana remembers the first time she had met the notorious gang leader. It was at one of the vaults parties. Britt had gotten drunk, and when Santana found her, she was practically naked and straddling Abrams's lap. There was no way Brittany could have consented to anything in her state, so Santana had stepped in to help. After that, Abrams had vowed to make Britt's his, no matter what. Britt says she doesn't remember anything that night, but ever since then Santana has never allowed her to drink as much.

"Look, I know you don't like me, but the way that I see it is that your friend can come with me. Where I can keep her safe from Artie, or you can let her be taken by him, and she will be treated like a piece of shit. Trust me I've seen Abrams's girls, and they don't remember their names, they are that high."

"I can keep her safe." Santana tries to sound confident, willing herself to believe her own words.

"Really… how? Abrams has people in every sector of the vault. Hell, he's the head of security and has a direct link to the Overseer's ear. You don't stand a chance. Hell I'd be lucky to keep her hidden from his goons."

"I'll figure something out…" Santana is nothing if not stubborn, and there was no way she would give Brittany up to a pig like Puck.

"What, are you going to start blowing Abrams too…?" He says with a cheeky grin.

Santana doesn't retort, instead she turns and walks into the classroom. Their teacher was standing at the front of the room passing out the papers for the test. His name was Edwin Brotch, and just like his father and grandfather, he was placed in this position. Santana didn't know him very well, 'could he a part of Abrams society?' She would have to find out after the test. 'Maybe he can place Brittany closer to the labs,' she thinks hopefully.

* * *

><p>Brittany smiles as Santana enters the room. She waves the Latina to the open spot next to her.<p>

"Thanks Britt… for saving me a spot." Santana says as she sits down next to her.

"No problem… plus you had to sit next to me, how else would I be able to cheat off of you." Brittany says nonchalantly.

'There was an idea; if Britt had the same answers maybe she would be placed in the medical wing as well. Then we would be together, and I would be able to protect her from Abrams.' She leans closer to Brittany and whispers, "hey Britt, I want you to copy off of my paper, okay."

"Well yeah, I thought we already established that." Brittany whispers back.

The teacher clears his throat in order to gain the attention of the class. "Okay everyone now that the test has been passed out you may begin. The test is a series of questions to test your abilities. After the test, you will bring your paper up to me, and I will grade it and assign you your new job. The position you are assigned will be where you will report to tomorrow for your individual job training. Also, before you begin I want to say there is no wrong way to answer these questions, so just try your best. You may begin." With that the teacher made his way back to his desk and waited for the students to finish. Throughout the exam, Santana couldn't help but noticed the questions were weird, but she made sure that Britt answered the same as her.

Brittany couldn't help but smile at one of the questions. "What does this have to do with a job…?" The question was asking 'how you would react if your grandma gave you a firearm and told you to go kill the neighbors.' It was a silly question, but Santana's dad had told her that this wasn't a test of skill, but more of an aptitude test, and that some questions just wanted to see how you would react if something happened to your family, or to see if you are a complete nut case. Santana couldn't help but think if anyone tried to harm Britt, she would kill everyone involved. Instead of circling that answer, she opted for the 'tell the overseer' answer. By the time they finished most of the kids were done. Santana waited for everyone to leave before she brought her paper up.

"How was that ladies?" Their teacher asks as Santana handed him her goat.

"It was alright… I guess it was a little confusing." The teacher marks several places on her paper then pulls out a sheet from his desk.

"Well you have nothing to worry about I'm sure. The overseer wouldn't place you anywhere but the medical wing. Your father is a great asset to the vault, and one day you will be too. Congratulations." He hands her the sheet of paper. It says medical assistant on it along with some other mumbo jumbo. It wasn't a surprise, but this did make her wonder.

"So this test doesn't have any pull to placement?"Santana asks as she folds up her piece of paper and tucks it into her jumpsuit.

"Not really, it's the Overseer's final call in the end, but he issues the test to make sure you will be able to handle your responsibilities. Miss Pierce your next."

Brittany is still smiling as she hands him her paper. "I hope I passed." The teacher again circles something's on her test, and pulls out a piece of paper and hands it to Brittany. On it, it says secretary to security personnel. Brittany smiles, she was relieved that she didn't have to scrub toilets for the rest of her life. When she looks at Santana to see her approval she's met with a very pale looking Latina, which was weird considering she was very much tan. "What's wrong San?"

Santana ignores the question. The sickness she was just feeling was now replaced with a new one … anger.

"Are you kidding me? Is this some sort of sick joke?" She asks in disbelief.

"I'm sorry miss Lopez, but everyone must do their job they're assigned." The teacher exclaims.

"That's not what I'm talking about and you know it! You work for Abrams don't you."

"Now miss Lopez you know that the Overseer picks, and finalizes everyone's job. This has nothing to do with Artie Abrams."

"Do you actually think I would believe that… he works as head of security and now the one thing he wants is his secretary?" She slams her fist against the teacher's desk, causing both Brittany and the teacher to jump. It didn't take a genius to know that Mr. Abrams was corrupt, most of the vault dwellers knew, but there was nothing anyone could do since the Overseer was blind to any misconduct Abrams was involved in.

"San… I don't understand. Why are you angry? Security headquarters isn't too far from medical… we can still have breakfast, and walk to work together. I thought you would be happy for me." Brittany whispers to Santana hoping that Mr. Brotch wouldn't overhear her.

"Britt you shouldn't… I don't want you to be sad… and If you work in security I-I can't be there to help you if… if he. Look Mr. Brotch I know my dad needs secretary personnel too… isn't there any way you could transfer her over from the security wing to the medical wing… she would have the same job. Please, look if you are what you say you are, and Abrams isn't behind this then it should be no problem. Please! " The teacher shakes his head.

"Look I wish I had that kind of power, but like I said all decisions are made by the Overseer. I can't go over his head, I'm sorry girls." Santana starts to tear up. "Look you can request a transfer from the Overseer but it will take two months to process, and there has to be a definite purpose for the transfer. If I were you, I would wait two years before putting in the request otherwise it will be rejected. Look, just give it a chance, she might like working-"

"No, I can't have her working in that place… working for that man…!" Santana cuts him off.

"I'm sorry but there's nothing I can do… please try and understand." Santana wipes her tear stained face, links her pinky with the blonde's, and pulls Brittany from the classroom for the last time.

They quickly make their way back to the Lopez living quarters, and enter Santana's room. The heavy metal door locks when they close, sealing the two girls inside.

Brittany sits on Santana's bed and watches her friend pace back and forth across the room muttering something to herself. She then decides it would be better to talk about what just happened rather than let the Latina's rage build.

"Hey San… why don't you want me to work at the security headquarters, I mean it's a good job."

"Yeah Britt, it is a good job… but I really wanted you closer to the medical wing." Santana says as she stops pacing the room. Brittany can tell that there is more to it than them not seeing each other as often so she wait patiently for her friend to continue.

"San what aren't you telling me… I know this isn't just about wanting me in the medical wing. You and I both know I would be no help there. Look…" She stands up and grabs Santana's face. "I love that you want to protect me… but maybe it's time for me to learn how to protect myself." At that moment Santana sees a side of Brittany she hasn't witnessed very often, it was her mature side. Like Brittany had finally grown up, and had left Santana behind.

"But what if something happens... What if he…" she tries to justify her concerns. Concerns Brittany wouldn't understand.

"Nothing is going to happen… tomorrow we're going to get up… you're going to walk me to my new job… then after you're going to pick me up for dinner, and we will laugh about how much you hate working for your dad. That's all that's going to happen. I promise." Santana's eyes begin to water. She wanted nothing more than to make what Brittany said come true. And at that moment, she knew she would find a way to keep Abrams at bay.

Brittany placed a light kiss on Santana's forehead before pulling her on the bed. She snuggles into Santana's body.

"You don't mind if I stay the night… my place is so quiet it's starting to drive me crazy." Brittany's voice is filled with exhaustion. She smiles slightly when she feels Santana's arms encircle around her, keeping her from leaving.

"I don't mind…" they lay there in each other's arms waiting to fall asleep.

"Say Britt, tell me about your dreams again." Santana always liked hearing about her friends' dreams; they weren't about the vault, like hers. Instead, they were filled with strange wonders and far off places she'd never heard of or seen.

Brittany has to think before she can remember what she had dreamt about the night before.

"Okay… well last night I had a dream, and you were there and I was there, and we were lying under a black roof that seemed to stretch on for like miles. And you were holding me… kind of like you are now… but we were looking at this ceiling and you could see thousands of bright lights shining down from it, but it was still very dark. And sometimes one of the lights would shoot across the dark ceiling, and then disappear. Then you said 'make a wish,' for some reason. There were no metal walls around us… no maze… it was open… it felt like freedom… and we had each other and that's all that mattered." Brittany ends with a yawn. Santana couldn't help but smile… she wished that it was real, that she could be there with her in that world that didn't seem real. "Hey San…"

"What Britt…?" She feels Brittany snuggle closer into her.

"I don't want you to see Puck anymore…"

"Really, and why is that…" Santana knew the reason why, but she wanted to hear Brittany say it.

"I don't like that he makes you cry… and I don't like that you smell like him afterwards. I like your normal smell, so please stop seeing him."

"Sure babe… whatever you want, but tomorrow we have to be up bright and early so I want you to try and get some sleep." With that, the room fell into silence… Santana listened quietly to the soft sound of Brittany breathing. She pulled herself closer and felt the warmth of her breath on her face.

She wished she could stay like this forever, and not worry about contributing to the world around them. Santana eventually fell to sleep. She knew that even if this feeling wasn't going to last, and wanted to take full advantage of it while she could.

The next day Santana woke to a small giggle. She couldn't help but let out a groan… which quickly turned into a smile as she felt feather light kisses being peppered across her face.

"Wakey Wakey… hands under blankie…" She felt wandering hands on her… she let out a giggle

"I think it's, Wakey Wakey eggs and bacon…"

"That makes absolutely no sense…" Santana can't help but crack her eye open just to witness her friends' confusion. "What does breakfast have to do with you and me in bed?"

"Good point Britt, I guess it is a stupid saying. Plus I kind of like your version better…" She lets out another giggle as the blonde starts to tickle her sides… "Stop! Britt… s-stop… that tickles…"

"Nope not yet…" The room is filled with laughter, until Britt finally rolls off her friend. Their laughter slowly dies down. "Are you awake now?"

"Um… not just yet…" She pulls her friend into another kiss causing the young blonde to smile.

"I like when you do that…" Brittany says with a grin, as she leans in for another kiss. "I love your sweet lady kisses."

"I love them too Britt." She gives her another peck on the lips, before the blonde jumps off the bed and runs to the shower.

"Come on Sanny, we're gonna be late for our first day of work."

That's when reality set back in for the young Latina. Today was the day that Britt would work for Abrams as his secretary, and she would be learning her new job as a technician.

'Fuck, and this started off as such a good morning… let's just hope it doesn't get worse.' Santana thinks as she falls back on her bed.

After the two of them got dressed, and ate breakfast Britt started to pull her down through the maze of the vault.

"You know I'm actually starting to get nervous. I mean this is our first day of work, and I won't even get to see you most of the day." Britt sounded so sad. This was going to be hard for the both of them.

"Hey, everything is going to be fine. Like you said, we still can meet for lunch, and I'll make sure to pick you up on my way back from the lab so we can go to dinner just like we always do." She pulled the blonde closer to her. Then they rounded the corner. The first thing she noticed was the door to the security wing. Unlike most places in the vault, this place was one of the few that needed a passcode to open. Brittany had received a visitor code that morning over her pipboy. This was standard procedure until she could get an ID badge.

Santana stops at the doors.

"Look Britt, I want you to text me with your pipboy if anything happens okay…" Brittany nods. "And promise me you won't let anyone take advantage of you." Britt nods again. "Okay… I'll text you when I get to the medical wing, and then you can fill me in on what you've done so far." She smiles "And Britt promise me you won't be in a room alone with Artie Abrams… even if he is your boss. You can't trust him okay… he's not like he seems, just try and avoid him, and I will see you tonight."

"I'll be careful… I promise." She gives Santana a kiss on the cheek then bounds off.

"Please be careful." Santana watches as Brittany disappears behind the heavy security doors.

One would think that working with family would be an easy adjustment, but for Santana working with her dad was becoming nothing more than annoying. She loved her dad, but he was too much of a control freak.

"Come on Santana I've told you twice now, you have to wash your hands every time you touch sterile tools." Santana's dad starts to preach again. It has only been like a few hours, and Santana was already sick of her job.

She checks her pipboy, Brittany still hasn't texted her back.

'Come on Britt you promised me.'

"Hey Santana." Santana looks up from her pipboy. Standing in front of her was none other than the overseer's daughter, Amata. For the most part, they were close. Amata was almost like a mother to Santana, since her own mom died while giving birth to her. She practically raised her since her dad was always busy in the lab with patients.

"Hey Amata… what's up?"

"What's up? Can't a girl just drop in unannounced to see how a young Latina's first day of work is going? Man, it feels just like yesterday I was chasing Brittany and you from room to room." Santana smiles but doesn't make eye contact with her friend. "Hey, are you okay? I mean working for your dad can't be that bad can it?"

"No it's fine, I mean if working for a control freak that can't seem to stop lecturing you every time you mess up is fun, then yeah it's not that bad." Santana shrugs.

"Okay, you do know who I am right, Overseer's daughter, and all. I think I know how much fun it is to work with family." They both let out a small laugh. "Actually, I got a cut, and I was hoping you could patch me up seeing as you're a doctor and all."

"Doctor's assistant," she corrects " I don't think the vault would want me to take over my dad's position just yet."

"True that."

"Come on, let's get that cleaned and bandaged before my dad comes over to observe my bedside manner." Amata sits on one of the cool metal surgery tables as Santana finds the supplies she needs to clean the cut. She grabs a sterile pad and antiseptic and starts to clean out the wound. "It doesn't look too deep. I don't think you'll need stitches. Just keep it covered and come back tomorrow, and I'll clean it again. We don't want it to get infected. I would hate to have to amputate the future overseer's arm."

"Ha-ha Santana… you know you're not too old to spank." Santana raises her eyebrow in amusement.

"Don't promise me with a good time." Amata swats her friends playfully.

"You're lucky I consider you family." She says playfully. "No but seriously Santana what's up with you today. I don't think I've seen you like this before."

"It's nothing really. It's just… I told Britt to text me once she was settled into her new job over in security, but she hasn't gotten back to me. And I know I shouldn't be freaking out since it's only been like a couple hours, but I'm just worried about her."

"That's right, I heard she was over in security… that's not too bad…"

"Yeah, I guess it isn't. It's just… Abrams, he has always had his eyes on Brittany, and not in the good way. I just don't want her to be taken advantage of. I mean you know how trusting she can be." The vault never changed, there was always going to be drugs, gangs, and prostitution. Abrams had changed a lot of protocol since he took his place as head of security after his dad retired. "I just wished I knew what going on, you know?"

"Yeah, I get it; Brittany is a very special girl. She always has been." Santana noticed the hidden meaning behind her words. Amata was always keeping secrets from them. Secrets about the past, and history that had been buried. "Hey if it makes you feel better I can check on her after this, to make sure she's okay." Santana instantly brightens.

"That would be great actually… could you have her text me too." Amata slides off the table and pats her young friend on the shoulder.

"Look everything will be fine… you'll see." With that said Amata leaves.

The day went by slowly from there, Santana restocked medical supplies until lunch when her dad finally released her. She found herself texting Brittany; she wanted to see if she was free for lunch.

**-Hey Britt-Britt… lunch? You in?**

She waited patiently for a reply but none came, and before she knew it her lunch break was over. The day had gotten worse from there. She had attempted to text her friend several times but ended up with no response. She texted Amata to see what she'd found Brittany. The reply can minutes later and said.

**-Yes I have, but she was really busy and couldn't talk**.

And for a moment her anxiety was gone, unfortunately it didn't say away very long.

The first day of work had come and gone and Santana waited eagerly outside the security headquarters for Brittany. She texted her again for like the tenth time since she was released from work, but all of her text went unanswered.

**-Hey B, I'm waiting outside, what time do you get done?**

No response.

"What the fuck!" She goes up to the doors, but because of the security reader on the door, she wasn't going to be able to get in. She was starting to worry, okay that was an understatement; she was freaking the fuck out. 'Britt should have answered me by now… something is wrong… something happened'. "Shit…"

"Excuse me lady, you can't loiter outside the security wing." A guard walks up behind her… catching her off guard. "You're going to have to return to the residential hall now." The man says as he tries to usher her away.

"Um I'm sorry, but I'm just waiting for my friend to get done with work. She just started today and she isn't answering my text. So I need you to open this door up so I can go inside, and find her?" At that moment, she got a text from Brittany.

**-Help. **

Santana stares at the text for a moment… 'Help'. She didn't even notice that the guard was still talking to her. All she could see was the words calling to her.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but for security reasons you cannot wait outside the doors. You'll have to come with me. I'll escort you out." The gaurd puts a hand on her shoulder.

Santana snaps, and before she even realized she had successfully dislocated the guard's arm, and pushed his injured body up against the wall. Running on nothing but instinct, she effectively knocks out the guard and lets his unconscious body fall to the ground.

Santana quickly grabs the guard's gun, ID card, and swipes the card through the reader. Luckily the work day was done which meant the offices were empty by now. She stashes the gun in the waistband of her outfit, and walks towards the elevators.

She's never been in this sector before, but Brittany had downloaded most of the restricted maps onto her pipboy as a present for her tenth birthday. Therefore, she knew where she was going… the head of security office was just above.

The doors of the elevator opened into the front secretary's office. There were no signs of Brittany at the front desk. Her blood was pounding in her head as she opens the door to the main office. Her vision is blurred… there was Brittany, lying on the couch naked with Abrams over top of her, who had just pulled out of her leaving his seed inside. Santana was practically in tears as she reached for her weapon. She points it at the back of Abrams's head. He hadn't noticed she was there, that was until she cocks the gun behind him. He slowly turns around as he buttons himself back up.

"Well… it's about time. I was expecting you 20 minutes ago. As you can see, I'm done with her now." The man in front of her smirks.

"You fucking bastard… I'm gonna fucking kill you!" Santana's hands are shaking in rage.

"Now, let's not get crazy here… you knew this was going to happen… you took her away from me once and I won't let that happen again."

"What the fuck… is wrong with you?" The man just smirks. "Back up…" She starts to walk toward him as she motions him back towards the wall. "Back the fuck up before I blast your fucking brains across the wall!" She doesn't know if she's shaking with anger or adrenaline, but whatever it was moved her forward. Slowly Abrams starts to back away from the couch, he stops when he feels the wall behind him. Santana walks over to Brittany, who was still on the couch, the girl hadn't moved since she came in. The first thing Santana notices was the mixture of seamen and blood on the girls thighs, the sight made Santana cringe. The next thing she noticed were Brittany's eyes, which seemed distant, almost like she was looking through her. "Britt… Brittany, can you hear me?" Her voice sounds weak as she tries to get through to her blonde. She uses her free hand to cup Brittany's tear stained cheek, and tries to get the girl to look at her. Bruises cover Brittany's body along with small cuts, and bite marks. However, the most noticeable were around her wrist and neck. The marks distinctively looked like hand marks. In fact, Santana could actually see the individual finger markings that were left behind. Then she notices the syringe lying next to the couch, and the bruised track mark forming on Britt's forearm. "What did you do to her… what did you give her?" Santana sounds frantic as she tries to assess the extent of Brittany's injuries.

"I think it's kind of obvious on what I did to her. Unless you want details, cuz your girl, man she was so fucking tight… I mean I've fucked a lot of girls, but I've got to say she was my favorite." His eyes drift over Brittany's battered body.

"Shut up!" Santana yells, but Artie continues.

"I was a little worried at first. She fought so damn hard so I give her a little something to relax. Though she did impress me, normally the drug takes a hold instantly, but Brittany here fought the effects. Well for a while at least, and I'm not going to lie to you, I did find it endearing the way she pleaded for your help. She was all 'Santana, help me… no, Santana save me…'"His voice got lower. "'Santana it hurts so much… make it stop…'" His voice is like ice as he mimics the blonde's cries.

"Stop it, shut up…" She finds herself standing in front of him trying with all her will power not to pull the trigger. Instead, she pistol whips him breaking open his lip in the process. Her control was slipping fast, yet Abrams continued to push laughs as he wipes the blood from his face. Santana stands over him still trying to hold back her anger.

"But my favorite part is when she gave up completely. She only cried as I fucked her over, and over. Until the drug took over her completely, and as soon as that drug wears off, she'll be begging me for more. Hell it's almost comical what these girls will do for it, like suck my cock until I give them what they want…" She hits him again knocking him to the floor this time.

"You bastard." She gives him a swift kick to his side ensuring that he stays down this time before returning to Brittany's side. Brittany's clothes were practically in tatters, there would be no saving them. The most important thing now was to get her away from Artie. "Britt you need to get up… we need to get out of here."

Brittany's eyes slowly meet Santana's. "San…" It was barely over a whisper…

"Yes it's me… I'm here. Come on we need to go." She helps the girl to her feet holding her tightly in her arms, she starts to guide Brittany out of the room.

"Where do you think you're going… you think you can hide her from me? I run this vault, and if you think I'll just let her go without a fight, you're wrong. You know what they say, you were born in the vault, and you will die in the vault." He spits up some more blood. "And after you're gone I'll make sure Britt is taken care of every day. I will fuck her until she forgets who you even were… hell she won't even be able to function after I'm done with her…" He tries to stand… Santana pulls Britt tightly into her side. Making sure her head is buried in her neck. "She will be mine in every wa-"

His words are cut off by two gunshots. She watches as his body falls to the floor. "You will never touch her again."

Santana leads Brittany towards the medical ward. She wasn't sure what she should do, but she figured the medical wing would be the safest place for Britt. They were half way to the medical wing when Brittany's legs gave out completely. She smelt like sweat and sex, but Santana lifted her naked body into her arms and carried her the rest of the way. When they arrived at the clinic, Santana lays the blonde on a medical table. Brittany still hadn't said anything since Artie's office, instead she stares at the wall. Santana desperately tries to hold back her tears.

'How could this be happening.' "Fuck… what are we gonna do… shit." She knew she needed to do something to help her, but her mind was slowly fogging up as reality was starting to set in. 'Amata… she'll know what to do…' Santana texts her on her pipboy.

**-I need your help in the medical wing… Britt's hurt… please hurry.**

**-I'm on my way.**

Amata texts back seconds later.

"Okay… okay Britt, Amata's on her way… she's gonna help you." Santana then starts to clean the cuts on Brittany with disinfectant. When she got to her legs, she was almost in tears. She was trying so hard to be strong for Brittany, but seeing her like this… she started low on her legs. Trying to wash Abrams off her, but as Santana washes higher she feels Brittany start to shake in fear. "It's okay… Britt it's just me… I'm just trying to help get you cleaned up." Santana's voice calmed Brittany, but as her hand trailed up higher Brittany began to shake more, until a hand finally stopped her.

"Please no more…" That's all Santana could make out before Brittany passed out from exhaustion. That's all Santana could take. She couldn't help but cry. She was startled when she heard the doors to the medical wing fly open. When she turns around, she sees Amata frozen in her spot.

"S-Santana… what's going on… what happened to Britt?" Santana burst back into tears.

"I'm sooo sorry… this is all my fault… I should have… I should have been there… I was supposed to pro-protect her." She starts to hyperventilate.

"Whoa… calm down, you need to breathe… I need you to focus on my breathing okay… in and out." Santana tries to calm herself. She takes deep breaths as she sobs into Amata's embrace. Amata rubs her back trying to soothe the young girl. "Shh… okay... There we go, just breath and tell me what happened… who hurt Brittany?"

"It's all my fault… I knew something was wrong, and I should have reacted sooner." Santana avoids her question.

"Santana… I know you would never do this to Britt so tell me what happened… start from the beginning."

"I-I well. I left work and went to pick up Brittany for dinner. I texted her and waited outside the security doors, but she never came out, and then this security guard told me to leave. I told him I was waiting for my friend, and she hadn't come out yet… then… then I got a text from Britt… and it said… It said help… help… and I lost it. The guard grabbed me from behind so I knocked him out, and I took his gun and ID to get into the security wing. I went to the front desk… where Britt should have been but she wasn't there. Then I went into Abrams… A-Abrams office, and I saw Brittany… she was on his couch and she was… he… h-he r-raped…" She couldn't finish but Amata understood what she meant.

"Santana, okay I need you to tell me what else happened."

"I hit him… he kept telling me what he did to Brittany… I got so mad. He told me he was going to keep Britt. I tried to leave, then he told me he was going to come after me, and that I had nowhere to hide. So I shot him… twice, and then we left and came here…"

Amata was in shock, but she held on tighter onto Santana as she cried. Most of the stuff she was saying at this point was incoherent.

"Okay Santana I want you to listen to me. You didn't do anything wrong… I would have done the same thing. Now the most important thing we do is help Brittany. Okay but in order to do that I need you to be strong for a little while longer. Can you do that for me?" Santana nodded. "Okay good, this is what we're going to do. I want you to pack up some medical supplies you think will be helpful for Britt, okay. When she wakes up, she can use my shower and clean herself up. But right now I need you to grab any medical supplies you think she'll need, because we're going to move her back to my room for now. Santana looks a little worried. "It's gonna be okay… I know a secret way to my quarters. We can use that so no one will see you or Britt. No one saw you leave the security wing right…" Santana shakes her head no. "Okay good, you grab the supplies and I'll wrap Britt up in a medical sheet."

They work fast to get Brittany to safety. Santana grabs more supplies than she probably needs, things like saline and bandages. Anything she can get her hands on that could come in handy. She just hoped what she grabbed would be helpful.

They left the medical wing without saying a word. Santana follows closely behind Amata as they weave through the un-used vault hallways. Brittany was still unconscious when they entered Amata's room. She lays the battered blonde on her bed, and covers her with a blanket.

"Okay when she wakes up get her in the shower. I also have extra uniforms she can use. I'll go, and get this situation under control without you two getting involved okay." Santana sits next to Brittany, she holds the blonde's hand, and kisses it ever so lightly. They're so soft. Amata sees the 9mm still tucked in the waist of Santana's pants. "Okay, I'm going to go now, but I need you to give me the 9mm and ID badge." Santana looks worried she didn't really want to give up the weapon. She might need it to protect Brittany. "I know you think you need it, but I need to make sure this weapon and ID card are placed back on that guard so they can't blame you for the shootings." Santana nods and hands the weapon and the card over to Amata.

"What if I was caught on camera?" The vault had a very outdated camera system but they were still present in the vault.

"Don't worry about that I'll take care of everything… okay? Right now you need to look after her." She points to Brittany. "That's all that matters. I'll be back before you know it." Amata leaves out a different door then locks it behind her, giving the girl a sense of security.

Santana then crawls into bed with Brittany, and pulls the girl tightly in her arms while whispering sweet nothings to her. "It's going to be okay… I will never leave you again… I promise… promise."

Santana slowly succumbs to exhaustion alongside her best friend. It seems like the day was nothing more than a nightmare. Santana woke hours later to Brittany thrashing in her arms. She tries to soothe the girl, but Brittany is trying to kick off the intruder.

"Santana! Please help!" Brittany screams as she thrashes.

"It's okay. Britt I got you, I'm here. You need to calm down." Brittany shakes more as she tries to grasp what is happening to her, she thought she was being assaulted by Artie still. She soon found that the arms around her were Santana's, and stops struggling. She lets out a sob and clings desperately to Santana. Santana feels the tears soaking into her shirt, she sooths the girl trying to get her to relax. She rocks Britt in her arms slowly as she talks quietly to the girl. "It's okay Britt your safe, I promise. No one's going to hurt you." An hour or so later, along with a couple more melt downs, Brittany finally seems to have calmed down. Her perfectly blue eyes were now bloodshot, and her once full soft lips were now chafed with cuts and dried blood. Santana could feel her eyes start to fill with tears, but she quickly wipes them away. She needs to be strong just like Amata said, and take care of Brittany. "Hey…" She soothes, "let's take a shower." She pulls Britt to her feet, which were still wobbly, and leads Brittany into the bathroom to shower. She doesn't ask if Brittany will need help, but instead she quickly undresses and pulls the blonde into the shower. Brittany is staring at the water drain as the water cascades down her skin. She makes no attempt to move. Instead, she feels Santana's hands roaming her body with a wash cloth. She gasps when that hand cups her. Santana just stops her movement. Brittany makes eye contact with Santana as she feels her start to move again. Being as gentle as possible, she washes the dried blood away. After Santana washes the rest of Brittany's body, hair, and herself she then dries off the blonde girl, and grabs a clean pair of clothes for the both of them. Amata still wasn't back yet, but she had gotten a text from her dad.

**-Please report to the medical wing. A patient has been brought in**.

That was over two hours ago. "Hey Britt Britt…" She pulls the girl into her arms and holds her there. The girl starts to play with her fingers, lacing them together. "How do you feel?" It catches Santana off guard when she hears Brittany giggle. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing silly head…" She says so cheerfully. "I can't feel anything…" She pokes herself… then pinches… and slaps… "Why can't I feel anything?" Brittany starts to panic.

"Britt, stop hitting yourself." She grabs her wrist… and the girl yells in pain. She then realizes she had just grabbed the girl in the same place Artie had. This brought the pain back. Britt starts to struggle against her.

"Don't hurt me…" She cries.

Santana lets go of her wrist. "I'm sorry Britt I didn't mean to grab you like that, I'm so sorry."

"Santana… y-you saved me from the bad man…"

Santana sniffles. "Yeah, I saved you from the bad man. He'll never come near you again." Moments later, she hears the girl's breath even out as she falls back into a deep sleep. Santana holds her rocking ever so slightly. She jumps when the door to Amata's room opens and the girl comes running in.

"We've got a problem… Abrams isn't dead." The girl says before Santana can ask what happened.

"What! No, I shot that bastard… I shot that fucker twice."

"Look I know you have questions, but I need you to focus okay? Abrams isn't dead. Someone found the guard before I got to him, and they found Abrams too. Let's just say your dad is tending him as we speak."

"So okay… what are we going to do now?" She starts to panic.

"That's not the only problem we have. Abrams woke up an hour ago, and ordered a shoot on sight warning for you. They're already searching for you and Britt."

"Oh fuck, I'm so screwed… Amata what am I going to do… I…"

"Calm down there is only one thing we can do. We need to get Britt and you out of the vault before they find you." Amata says as if it was that simple.

"What? But there is no way out of the vault."

"There is, and I've done it before so there should be no problem getting Britt and you out. Look I packed some supplies for you and Britt already. Here, I've packed you some stimpacks, food, and fresh water along with some clothes. Extra ammo… which you will need out in the Waste."

"Waste? I… h-how do you know so much about this?"

"Look it's a very long story... Nevertheless, I can assure you the vault doors have been opened many times. Before you were born, and before your dad was the head surgeon we had another doctor. My dad brought him in from the waste, along with my best friend. Then one day the doctor escaped from the vault… which made my dad furious and had his lab assistant killed. In short, I help my best friend escape the vault so he could find his father. Then a couple years after you were born, I was working in the observation room. You see there is a camera right outside the vault door, and one day a lady came on screen. She was holding a young girl… the lady was looking for someone to help them. She was sick. I told my father about them, and that they were right outside and we could help them, but he said no. Then a couple of days later I noticed that the mom was gone, and she'd left the girl. She had left her with like one bottle of water and that's it. I watched this girl for hours, then that night I opened the door yet again. I brought her into the vault. She had a note attached to her…" Amata pulls out a crumpled piece of paper, and hands it to Santana.

Santana looks at the worn words on the page. "I know you must think I'm bad… but a man told me this vault was safe. I'm sick and my child needs someone to look after her. Please raise her for me… I love her… her name is Brittany… please forgive me. I don't understand… Brittany isn't from the vault?"

"No she wasn't born in the vault. We told her that her mom and dad died when she was old enough to understand, but otherwise she thinks she was from the vault. Those dreams she has… they aren't dreams… they're memories… of the wasteland, and of her mom."

"Why didn't you tell me this before… why didn't you tell Brittany before?" Brittany was still asleep in her arms.

"Look I know this is a lot to take in, but you need to know. The wastes are a very hard and unforgiving place." She looks down at Britt.

"Okay… when do we leave?" An Hour later Amata was leading them through a slew of abandoned tunnels. Brittany was having a hard time keeping up, but Santana wouldn't let her fall behind . It wasn't until they entered the overseer's office that Santana started to feel worried, 'what if we can't escape… what if this is a trap.' Amata however would never betray them.

"Okay when you get out, you need to understand its everyone for themselves. I've heard transmissions coming from a town called Megaton. They seem to be the closes thing to the vault… it seems like the best place for you two, and they can protect you."

"Why don't you just come with us…?" Santana asks, she really didn't want to leave her friend behind.

"I can't. If you and Britt disappear… nothing will happen… if I disappear. My dad will send a search party, and if I leave who will take over as the overseer."

"Abrams…"

"Once my dad dies I will be able to take over the vault and get rid of people like Abrams. I plan on opening the vault to anyone seeking protection, and to anyone who wants to leave. This is what I meant to do, and why I never left all those years ago. I need to be here, because you never know when another Brittany will come a knocking."

"Another me is that possible?"

"Sshh Britt." Santana coos.

"That reminds me… here take these." She hand Britt a tiny white pill.

"What is it… are you giving me more drugs?" Brittany eyes the white pill.

"Please take it… otherwise you will have another Brittany running around in nine months." Santana's eyes widen.

"It's just a vitamin Britt, you should take it."

"Okay." She eagerly swallows it without water.

"Okay from here we have to be quick. Once I open this entrance way an alarm will sound, and we'll only have a couple minutes to open the vault door. Are you ready?" They nod… Amata hugs and kisses them both on the head. "You guys will always be my favorites. It's like you're my kids." She wipes a tear from her cheek. She then turns back to one of the overseer's computers and types in the password. All of a sudden, the overseer's desk starts to shake… it lifts and reveals some stairs. They quickly run down the stairs as an alarm starts to blare. They make their way through a computer room. Santana saw screens that were left on… it was some sort of a security room. After that, they came face to face with a giant round door. Amata quickly turns some controls on a nearby substation. They watch as the door slowly starts to move. A giant machine overhead attaches to the giant vault door and pulls it forwards, then it rolls it open.

"Whoa…" That's all Santana could say.

"Okay this is it… this is where you guys start anew. Promise me you'll stay safe." Brittany is still a little out of it. Watching the door open was too amusing. Santana just nods. "Okay quickly you need to leave before security gets here."

Santana grabs the Brittany's hand and pulls her out through the giant door. As soon as they step through the thresh hold the vault door comes back to life, and moves back into its original place, sealing them out. Banishing them from the only life they've ever known. After the dust settled, they notice a light at the end of the dark dusty tunnel. They walk over the signs on the floor. Most of them said help me, or save us. Santana pulls the old wooden door open, this was it the beginning of their new life. The sunlight burned their eyes, and made their vision blurry. The next thing that hit them was the heat, then a small breeze. It was so different. The air wasn't stale, and the lights were warm. Santana's breath hitched as soon as her eyes focused. In front of them was a vast and open space, there were no walls, just like Britt had described in her dreams.

Brittany giggles, and starts to spin. "It's just like in my dreams…" Brittany says with glee. They walk towards a sign that says lookout. "Look out for what…?" Brittany giggles. Britt was a little confused, but they noticed they were on a cliff. In the distance, they could see a fortress, and down below looked like a rundown town.

End... Hope you like it so far


	2. Wasteland Wonder

Disclaimer: I don't own glee or its characters:

AN: warning: This is rated M for a reason. Deals with drugs, rape, violence, prostitution, slavery… graphic scenes so if that not your thing turn back now.

_Recap_

_Brittany says with glee… They walk towards a sign that says lookout._

_"Look out for what…?"_

_Brittany giggles._

_Britt was a little confused but they noticed they were on a cliff. In the distance, they could see a fortress, and down below looked like a rundown town._

**Chapter 2 Wasteland Wonder**

* * *

><p>"We should go and find a place to stay for the night…" She looks over and sees Brittany already walking down the hill.<p>

"This way Santana, there's a road leading down." Santana grabs the 9mm from her bag and sticks it in her waistband again. She remembered what Amata said. She needed to be ready for anything, and anyone. She follows behind Brittany, who was enjoying herself more then she should. Brittany's joy doesn't last long. Santana sees Brittany fall to her knees, and starts to dry heave. She quickly runs to her side and tries to help. She notices how hot Brittany feels.

'The drugs were starting to have some sort of negative effect on her.' Santana helps Brittany to her feet. "Are you feeling okay Britt…? I mean besides the fact that you just threw up."

"I'm fine… I'm just a little sleepy, are we there yet?" Santana smiles, she had no idea where they were, let alone if they were there yet.

"Okay, let's try to find a place for the night… the town up ahead looked like it had some sort of structures … we could try there." Santana wraps her arms around the girl and helps her towards the town. She notices the sign that said welcome to Springville, under that it says population 0. "Come on Britt we're almost there."

They walk past houses that are barely standing, and cars with no wheels. The vaults didn't have vehicles, and houses were only things they read about during school when they studied about life before the vault. "What about this place Britt?" They walk up to a small house, 'at least it has all four walls and a roof,' she thinks. They walk up to the door, but before she enters, Santana pulls out her 9mm… 'Just in case.'

After realizing the door isn't automatic like in the vault they open it with little trouble, and what they find inside is actually pretty normal. They walk in and see a kitchen, which by the looks of it probably still worked. Santana notices some open cans of food on the ground, which meant that people had used this place before. The sight of the bed makes Santana cringe. It had no sheets and looked old, but at least they wouldn't have to sleep on the ground there first night in the wasteland. She sits Brittany down on the bed. The girl looked completely exhausted.

"It isn't so bad is it? Could be worse I guess." Santana says, Brittany stays silent. "Are you hungry?" Santana tries again to get some sort of response out of her best friend but instead Britt shakes her head no. "You should probably eat something… you haven't eaten anything since breakfast." Britt just shrugs. "Hey, what's wrong?" She cups the girl's face, Brittany looks like she's about to cry.

"This is all my fault, because of me you had to leave your family and now were exiled to this gross rundown stinky place, and there's nothing I can do about it." Brittany starts to cry.

Santana tries to reassure her. "Shh, it's okay, everything's going to be okay." She rocks Brittany in her arms as she sobs into her shoulder. Santana rubs her back trying to get the girl to calm down. She pulls away when she hears the sobs subside. "I want you to understand that this isn't your fault, it's his fault. He's the monster. It was him, not you okay."

Brittany nods slightly. "But what about your dad?"

"You're the only family I need, and I will miss him but there was no way we could stay. We can start new out here Britt, we can be free just like in your dreams." They lay down on the bed. Santana held Brittany tightly to her. She could hear Brittany slowly falling to sleep, but just before she herself succumbed to sleep Brittany turns in her arms and faces Santana.

"I love you." She says quietly, just above a whisper. Santana can't help but smile; she places a tender kiss on Brittany's lips.

"I love you too." She says. They fall asleep in each other's arms.

Usually Brittany slept pretty well. She couldn't remember a time where she didn't. However, lately whenever she fell asleep she was tormented by nightmares. In addition, she would wake up more tired than when she fell to sleep. At this point, she couldn't fight it she was just too tired to care anymore.

_She was so excited her first day of work, Santana seemed more nervous than she thought she should be. 'I mean she was only working for her dad how bad could that be. Maybe she will feel better if I act nervous too.' I stop to pull her attention to me 'she looks scared.' "You know San, I'm actually starting to get kinda nervous… I mean this is our first day of work, and I won't get to see you most of the day." She makes herself sound sad to make the Latina realize that this was hard for her too._

_"Hey everything is going to be fine." The Latina says. Brittany notices that Santana is trying to hold back some sort of emotion, she just couldn't figure out what. "Like you said, we still can meet for lunch, and I'll make sure to pick you up on my way back from the lab so we can go to dinner just like we always do." Brittany smiles when Santana pulls her against her own body, the Latina then stops in front of the security doors, Brittany thinks maybe she's just struggling to say goodbye, but what her friend says next surprises her. _

_"Look Britt I want you to text me with your pipboy if anything happens…" Britt nods, she was confused was something going to happen that she wasn't aware of. "And promise me you won't let them do anything to you that you don't want them to do. This is a job, I don't want them taking advantage of you." Britt nods again. "Okay… I'll text you when I get to the medical wing… then you can fill me in on your day." She smiles but before she can leave, the Latinas face shows more than just concern. "And Britt promise me you won't be in a room alone with Artie Abrams… even if he is your boss… you can't trust him." Britt can tell she's not telling her something important but she agrees, 'Santana has never been wrong about anything, if she thinks you can't trust someone you should be cautious,' she thinks._

_"I'll be careful… I promise." She gives Santana a kiss on the cheek then bounds off towards the security doors. She hears Santana say something before the doors close that sticks with her._

_"Please be careful." _

_Her job wasn't too hard, she worked with another person who was running her through her day, and what was to be expected from her. Then her pipboy went off, she read it, it was from Santana who was telling her about her day so far. Brittany smiles at how she could tell Santana was having a hard time working with her dad, and just as she was about to reply back a voice interrupts her._

_"I'm sorry Brittany but you're not allowed to make personal text during the day. If Mr. Abrams sees, you'll get in trouble. Now go make some coffee. Mr. Abrams takes his black, and I like mine with two sugars and one cream." Brittany is confused she didn't think her job would involve getting people coffee, plus she didn't even know how to make coffee._

_"Okay I'll be right back I guess." _

_Her day had just gotten worse. Santana kept texting her but every time she tried to answer back someone would ask her to do something, or she would be told not to use her pipboy. At lunch time she had gotten a text from Santana, asking her is she had time for lunch, and just as she was about to say yes her boss Abrams comes in._

_"Ah here you are, I was looking for you everywhere." He says. Brittany smiles back. She looks and notices the other girl right behind him._

_"Yeah, I was just getting ready to go to lunch…"_

_"Oh, well you're going to have to eat here and quick, because we need you to do some filing, and getting acquainted with the system takes some time, right Mr. Abrams?"_

_"Yes I'm afraid your next couple of days will be busy. Get back to work you two." He smiles at Brittany then walks back into his office. She looks at her pipboy and wants to text Santana back but is interrupted._

_"Hurry up Brittany this filing will take the rest of the day and I have plans after this. I can't be late."_

_"Right." She follows the girl into the office. She works quietly but can't help but feel like she's being watched. _

_"Excuse me?" A knock at the door draws the attention of everyone, including Abrams._

_"Amata?" Brittany says when the overseers' daughter enters the office._

_"Ah, the overseer's daughter to what do I owe the pleasure of your presence." Abrams says. _

_Amata smiles at Brittany, and winks."Oh I was in the sector and thought I would drop in." _

_"Well as you can see we are kinda busy today trying to get organized."_

_"Of course I was just hoping to get a brief rundown, my father asked me to become more proactive in my duties so I wanted to meet with the heads of each department, and become familiar with their system. Do you have time?" Abrams nods._

_"You girls keep working okay I'll be back later." Amata winks again at Brittany before she leaves with Abrams._

_"Do you know the overseer's daughter?" The other secretary asks as they continue to work._

_"Um yeah, she pretty much raised me."_

_"Wow." _

_The rest of the day went by fast; she didn't get any other text from Santana, which meant that she was either busy, or mad. _

_"Okay Britt I'm going to cut out early, um you can handle the rest of this right?" Britt looks at the pile of files lying around her. There was a lot to do, but she didn't want to come across as though she needed help._

_"No that's fine there isn't much left anyway… so."_

_"Good. I'll see you tomorrow." The secretary practically runs out of the room leaving Britt all alone. _

'_Wow that was weird.' She could hear other people leaving so she knew she was going to be late for dinner. As she finished filing the last file the door swings open. Abrams walks in without even noticing her at first. Brittany gets up from the floor and is about to leave when he calls to her._

_"Brittany, can you come here for a second." She turns back around and walks over to his desk. Abrams smiles at her, so Britt smiles back. "So how was your first day?" He asks._

_"Um, it was fine I guess."_

_"Good, did Tammy leave already?"_

_"Um, yeah she said she was leaving early so, but the filing is all done."_

_"That's good, why don't you take a seat. I want to get to know you a little bit."_

_"Oh, I actually am supposed to be meeting someone soon so…"_

_"It's fine, I'm sure Santana will wait." Brittany sits down on the couch. She watches Artie stand and make his way towards her with a smug smile on his face. _

'_I'm not supposed to be alone with him.' She hears that small voice in the back of her head sending out warning signals."You know Santana?"_

_"Of course… it's kinda hard not to know the girl willing to sell her body to protect you." Brittany doesn't know what to say._

_"Um… I-I d-don't…"_

_"Oh come on Brittany, why do you think she is always with Puck?" Brittany knew something was going on, but she didn't think Santana would protect her like that._

_"Why… would she do that?"_

_"I asked myself the same thing a couple of years ago. Why are you so special? I mean its obviously you Brittany, but there has to be more right?" Abrams sits down next to her. She was starting to get scared at where this conversation was going._

_"I should…" she tries to get up and leave, but before she can, Abrams grabs her wrist, and pulls her back down onto the couch._

_"No stay… we're not finished yet." _

_The next thing she knows is that someone's on top of her. She struggles to get him off but Abrams is stronger than her. She lets out a cry. _

_"Cry all you want no one can hear you." He says. She feels her clothing being ripped away, followed by her underwear. She tries desperately to get away. Her attempts are useless, Abrams somehow manages to pin her arms so she can't thrash or hit him. "Fight, come on struggle please I love when they fight, it makes the reward that much sweeter." He says as he bites her neck leaving a very distinctive mark. _

_Brittany tries to roll him off, but instead he starts to kiss her lips. Then He clamps his hands around her neck and starts to squeeze. Brittany grasps at his hands, but slowly she feels the darkness creeping in on her. The next thing she knew she was naked with a needle in her arm, she feels a pin prick._

_"What… is that?" She gasps trying to catch her breath. _

_"It's just something to make you relax." Artie says with an evil smirk. _

_Brittany could feel it coursing through her. She was becoming numb. She wasn't however, numb enough to not feel him enter her, and just like that she felt herself being taken over not only by the drug but also by a man. She didn't want this. _

'_Why was this happening?' her brain was starting to cloud up, her cries fell on deaf ears._

_Artie was too busy savoring the virgin to care._

_"No, please stop… San…" Brittany feels like this is a dream, she can't move, her screams are silent. All she can do is cry. Artie is still moving above her trying to get himself off not caring about Brittany's cries of pain. Brittany looks at her pipboy, Santana's name flashes across the screen. It says she is right outside. With one final attempt, she quickly types help to Santana. She hopes it gets through, because she has no strength to attempt to try and send another one. The drug in her system has taken over, and she no longer has control of herself. She just prays that Santana gets here soon. She can feel Abrams empty himself into her, she doesn't know how much time has passed, but it felt like a life time. The last thing she really remembers hearing is his voice whispering in her ear as he continues to move inside her..._

_"I'm not done with you yet, you will be mine forever."_

Brittany wakes up in a panic.

"Shh B. It's okay… your safe." Santana tries to calm her down, but instead Brittany pushes her away with so much force Santana falls out of the bed. The room was dark and the only light they had was on their pipboy's. Santana scrambles to her feet, but before she can attempt to calm her friend, the door to the house swings open. Santana grabs the 9mm and points it at the door. She's about to fire, but then two girls practically falls through the threshold. One was a short brunette, she was dressed in very tattered clothing, and the other was a blonde who was about the same height as Santana. Their giggles were the only thing that prevented the Latina to not shoot them then and there.

"Come on Rach we have to hurry before my dad realizes I'm gone and grounds me." The blonde says as she tries to unbuckle the girl's short shorts. They both stop when they notice Santana is standing in the room. "Oh shit."

The blonde pulls away from the brunette, and reaches for her own weapon which looked like a knife. After a moment of what you may call a standoff Santana, attempts to regain her composure. She needed to find out if these people were friend or foe.

"Who are you?" She asks.

"Who are you would be a better question, and why are you in our shag shack?" The brunette rants. She looks angry, probably because their make-out session was ruined.

"We're not from around here, and we needed a place to stay for the night. We didn't know people lived here."

"So you aren't raiders?" The blonde asks.

"Well obviously they're not Quinn otherwise they would have shot us by now. They also wouldn't look so clean."

"No, we're not um… raiders… were from um… the vault."

"Holy shit!" The girls say in unison.

"Like the vault up in the mountain? That vault?" The young brunette asks.

"Um yeah… we um… we were forced to leave." Santana explains.

"We?"

Santana lowers her weapon. She makes a judgment call, and decides that maybe these people weren't going to hurt them so she turns to comfort Britt instead. "My names Santana Lopez and this is my friend Brittany Pierce." The girls walk into the room closing the door behind them. They notice to blonde looks scared out of her mind.

"This is Quinn and I'm Rachel, were from Megaton just up the road."

"Is your friend okay?" Quinn asks, because Brittany is still freaking out.

"Yeah, I mean we're not here to hurt you or anything." Rachel adds.

"She's fine… crap. I think her fever went up." Brittany is sweating up a storm. Santana grabs a bottle of water from their bag. "Britt you need to drink this, okay." She uncaps the drink and makes Brittany sip the fresh water.

"How much did she use?" Rachel asks.

"Huh?" The question pulls Santana's attention back towards the two strangers.

"Well the fever is from some sort of drug, and from what I can tell she must have taken something strong. How much did she use?" Rachel asks again.

"She didn't… someone forced her to use…" Santana says harshly. "I'm not sure what he gave her, or how much."

"Okay… Quinn maybe we should take them back…"

"What? No…"

"But the doctor…"

"Yeah, but they're closed for tonight, and I bet these two don't have the caps to get medical help."

"So…? Look at me Quinn." The blonde looks at her, "Now look at that girl on the bed… she is exactly like me, and if you hadn't helped me get off that shit I would still be up in Moriarty's Saloon high as a kite, fucking whoever he told me to."

"As if that has changed…" As soon as Quinn said it, she regretted it.

Rachel looks hurt for a second. "You're right, I'm nothing but a fucking whore. That's all I'll ever be good for, right. I'm still just a helpless junkie fucking anything on two legs." The brunette walks closer to the bed. "Here let's get her to a doctor. I'll pay for her myself. You guys can stay with me tonight since you don't have a room. It really isn't safe to be outside Megaton at night." Santana helps Brittany back on her tired feet. Rachel helps her too.

"How far is this place?" Santana asks. She doesn't think Brittany will physically be able to walk very far.

"It's not too far… here I'll grab your stuff." The short brunette grabs their bag as Santana practically carries the blonde to the door. Quinn moves out of her way, she is still upset at what she had said.

"Rach…" She tries, but the brunette just interrupts.

"Save it Quinn."

They had to make their way towards Megaton. It was dark out, which was weird considering that in the vault there was always a light on somewhere, even at night. Santana looked up at the black darkness, and notices it was filled with shiny jeweled lights, just like in Brittany's dream.

"Hey look Britt…" She points up at the moon. Brittany's eyes shine.

"Wow it's beautiful…" She says in a low voice.

Rachel smiles at them, she kinda wished she could feel that innocent over such trivial things.

"Come on guys, I don't want to carry both of you, you two are practically falling to sleep on your feet."

She leads Santana along who in turn leads Brittany as Quinn follows several feet behind them. Soon they are at the gates of Megaton, which Rachel explains is locked for the night. She leads them to a secret entrance instead, so the sentry's don't see them. It was nothing more than a small crawl space along the wall.

"Come on this way." Rachel says, as they make their way behind some of the buildings. "So the town is pretty much closed down for the night… um if you want you can share a room with me otherwise there's a Common house just pass Moriarty's Saloon that you can stay In for the night. That's where the travelers stay. We get a lot of travelers passing through…"

"Is it safe for us to be here?" Santana asks.

"Oh, yes Megaton is probably one of the safest places around. There aren't many places like this… I guess the only thing a little unsafe would be the giant bomb down below."

"Bomb?" Santana inquires.

"Oh yes… that's actually how this place got named I think. Now the Children of Atom pretty much worship it. Isn't that right Quinn." Rachel says smugly, Santana had almost forgot about the other blonde since she hadn't said anything since the shag shack. "You better run home Quinn, I would hate for you to get in trouble with your overly religious father for being out with an ex-junkie whore…"

"Rachel… you know I didn't mean it… please just let me apologize."

"Why… it's not like you're lying… that's what I am…"

"You know that isn't true… I don't know why I said that, but you were right and I'm sorry. I know you didn't choose to use, and I helped you get through your addiction, and I'll be there to help Brittany get through hers. I-I'm sorry that I was such a heartless jerk okay." The brunette is quiet… "Say something please."

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Meet us at Doc's shack, okay." The blonde smiles, nods, and then quickly disappears into the night. "Come on, let's get you guys inside."

Rachel leads them to a building at the top of the settlement. The building is lit up with tons of lights that spell out 'Moriarty's Saloon.' Rachel opens the bar door and leads them inside, the place is dead and shut down for the night. After making their way up a flight of stairs, Rachel opens the door to her room and flicks on a lamp light. The room itself was pretty small, there was a bed, dresser, and that's about it.

"I know it's small, but we'll have to make due for the night. Moriarty is pretty crazy about his rooms, and I'm sure you can't afford his prices. Not unless you don't mind going into debt to him like me." She gives Santana a weak smile. "That's how I got stuck here. Here lay Brittany on the bed, she looks exhausted."

"Thank you." She lays Brittany down. At least this bed was made and had sheets. She smiles at Brittany who lets out a huff. "Thanks for letting us stay here, and for helping me and Britt. I promise, I'll find some way to repay you."

"It really isn't a big deal… I'm sure you'd do the same for me. Anyway, why don't you get some sleep." Santana nods and crawls into the bed. She snuggles into the blonde who already sound asleep. Rachel crawls in behind Santana and snuggles into her. It wasn't the first time she's had multiple people in her bed.

Santana was woken by a loud bang.

"Ow…" she looks over her shoulder and sees Rachel standing up from the floor.

"Are you okay?" Santana says as she rubs the sleep from her eyes.

"Yeah… I think there's a reason they make these damn beds so small. Sorry I didn't mean to wake you."

"No its fine." She looks over at Brittany, who is still asleep. Santana can't help but smile, her friend looked truly peaceful. "What time are we supposed to meet Quinn?" She asks almost tempted to fall back asleep.

"Um… well its 8 am so the gates are open, which means Doc Church should be up. He's really the only doctor around." Santana looks back to Brittany, whose being to stir from her sleep. "He can help… I mean, he helped me. So I'm sure he'll be able to help Brittany."

"Yeah… maybe." Brittany rolls over and lets out a long yawn. She smiles when she feels Santana's finger tips lightly brush her hair from her face.

"Are you awake?" Santana asks gently, Brittany shakes her head no.

"Not yet…" Brittany mumbles. Santana stars peppering kisses across Brittany's face.

"And now?"

"Nope. You better try again." Her eyes open slowly she then sits up quickly when she takes in the foreign surroundings. 'Where am I, how did I get here?' she panics.

"Whoa Britt… it's okay your safe remember?" Brittany starts to hyperventilate. "Hey… it's okay… remember…? I'm here."

Brittany gasps.

"But… I thought." She breaks off when she notices there's another girl in the room with them. "Who…" She points to Rachel who looks a little shocked at the sight unfolding in front of her.

"It's okay, this is Rachel remember? We met her last night in the shack."

Brittany thinks back to last night, or what she thought was just a dream. She remembers seeing this girl with another girl, but the image was fuzzy.

"I… t-that was real? I thought… I thought I was still dreaming." Her mind races.

"No babe. That happened remember, she brought us here last night."

"I remember seeing those lights above me…," she says slowly as she starts to relax.

"Those were stars." Rachel supplies.

Slowly Brittany's memories crept their way back to her. Their walk to Megaton, their escape from the vault, Artie… it was all too much to take in."I can't." She gasps trying to breathe again but the situation unfolding was overwhelming. The next thing she knew she was on her hands and knees puking into a bucket. Santana was holding her hair as she puked her guts out. After Santana was able to calm her down, and she stopped dry heaving Rachel hands her a bottle of water. "Thanks." She says weakly as she sips the water then spits it into the bucket. "I'm sorry… about that."

'That' was of course throwing up in her room.

"Really it's no problem, that's why I keep a bucket in here. I'm just thankful you didn't throw up on me… some people are into that kind of kink…" Rachel trails off, she obviously didn't mean to say all of that, but it did make Brittany feel a little better.

"Do you think you can stand?" Santana asks after the weird silence.

"Yeah…" she helps Brittany to her feet, she still wobbly, but doesn't need as much support as last night.

"So, I know you guys have clothes and stuff, but I have some pre-war ware for you. It would probably look better if you guys didn't look like you just stepped out of the vault." She hands Santana some clothes. "I'm going to step outside and give you guys some privacy… um I'll meet you downstairs when you're ready… then will go meet Doc Church."

After Rachel left Santana looks at the clothes… they were kind a grungy looking, but were also vastly different from their vault uniforms. She hands Brittany the larger of the clothes, it wasn't anything special, just a pullover jacket at a pair of what she would later learn were overhauls.

"These smell funny…" Brittany says as she takes a whiff of the clothing.

"Yeah… but at least we'll look like them." Santana says as she pulls a white beater over her head, it had stains on it that resembled blood, but she told herself it was oil. Then she pulled on her pants, which were also baggy and stained, but at least they were comfortable. She slipped her shoes back on, and finally she pulled her hair back into a ponytail. That's all she could think of doing with it since it seemed they wouldn't be showering any time soon. She looked over at Brittany who looked like she was struggling with the overhauls. They looked good on her, well as good as anyone looked in overhauls. "Do you want me to help you with your hair?" Brittany smiles then nods. She always helped her in the morning with her hair. Moreover, going through their old routine help put things into perspective. She puts Brittany's hair up just like hers and finishes it with a couple of bobby pins to help keep the bangs out of her eyes.

"Hey look at this Santana…" Brittany picks up an old looking cowboy hat. "I've never seen a hat like this before. Do you think Rachel would mind if I wore it?"

"No probably not… I just wish you would've said something while I was putting up your hair. Cuz now I have to take it down if you're going to wear a hat." She's about to pull out the pony tail when Brittany stops her.

"Wait… can you just put it lower so I can wear the hat too. I still want my hair up."

"Okay well give ya a low ponytail, how about that." After the hair fiasco was taken care of, Santana tucks her 9mm into the waistline of her baggy pants. "Are you ready?" Brittany nods, she was excited to see this new place. They half expected Rachel to be waiting right outside the door, but the brunette wasn't there. They descended the stairs, and just as they were about to exit the saloon, Santana hears a sharp slap sound followed but a muffled shriek. Her hand instinctively goes to her 9mm. There was a loud commotion happening just behind the bar. The voices were becoming louder. Then the back door swings open as Rachel emerges from the back room. She was being courted by an older looking man.

"Next time, I won't ask you that again! Do you understand?" A man's voice erupts.

Rachel was holding her cheek.

'This had to be Moriarty, the owner of the saloon, and Rachel's boss.'

The older looking man had white thinning hair and looked like Brittany's old neighbor from the vault.

Rachel stops when she sees the two girls on their way out. They had picked the worst moment to show themselves, but it was too late because her boss had already seen them.

"Where these two with you all night? Well! Were they?" His voice gets louder.

"Y-yes…" Rachel stutters.

"Well…" the man looks like he's about to hit Rachel again. "The caps, Rachel! Where are the fucking caps!"

Rachel fumbles, and pulls something that looks like coins from her pocket and lays them on the bar counter.

"This is it… you fucking sold out for 35 caps…" He grabbed Rachel's wrist and spun her around. Santana was about to pull out her gun but before she could Rachel waves her off. "Well, I guess I'll just put the rest on your tab." He says lowly, and then looks back towards Santana and Brittany. "Next time you want a ride on this girl you will come to me with payment first, y'all got that?" He says darkly. Santana just nods. "Good, now get the fuck out of my bar, were closed." Rachel yanks her arm free from Moriarty and moves towards the door. "Where do you think you're going?" His voice stops her before she can exit.

"I promised these two a tour too." She says in a low voice. The man looks pissed but lets her go.

"Fine whatever… just make sure you're back at the opening. I have guests coming tonight and your assistance will be needed." Rachel doesn't say anything.

Santana hooks her pinkie with Brittany and follows after Rachel.

"Oh and girls… I don't allow junkies in my establishment unless they're working for me, next time leave the dead head blonde outside." He says harshly then turns to go back into the back room. When they got outside the first thing, they notice is Rachel is standing by the railing trying not to cry. For Rachel, shit like this happened all the time, but it was the first time anyone else had been there to witness it. She wipes her tears away and faces Santana and Brittany. They both looked like they wanted to ask her something.

"Okay so um… I guess we should go and meet Quinn I think I can see her down below."

Megaton was built in the center of a crater, and the town was practically built on top of each other. The buildings were built upon buildings, all in which were surrounded by a very large wall.

Rachel pointed out Moira Brown's trading post, and the Water Treatment Facility next door to it. The town was so different to the two vault visitors. They walked down some stairs, which led to the belly of the city.

Rachel points out a Brahmin heard which kinda freaked Santana out. She had seen a picture of a cow when she was in the vault but this… this was like a mutant cow, it had two heads for crying out loud. Brittany on the other hand thought they were adorable, and tried to pull them over to them so she could pet one. There were no pets in the vault, unless you were a fan of rat roaches or the occasional mole rat that dug their way into the pits of the vault. Therefore, mutated cows were awesome. Finally, Rachel stops in front of a small building. Quinn is waiting out front. She's dressed in a pre-war white dress. She takes in Rachel's appearance, and notices a dark mark starting to form on her cheek. A bruise that wasn't there last night. Rachel had hoped it would have gone unnoticed, but it was foolish to think that, since Quinn seemed to have her entire body memorized.

"What happened…? I thought you said he stopped hitting you." She cups Rachel's cheek to inspect it.

"He did." She pulls away from Quinn. "He said I forgot this month's wages for boarding." There was something Santana was missing she could tell. Something that was going on between the two girls that was more complicated than a missed payment. "He took it all okay… everything."

"What?" Quinn says in shock.

"He said that I still owed him for last month's rent, and said that the interest on it has doubled so he took it all." The last part she practically whispered.

"He took all of the savings you had? Fuck… what about the stash you had in your room?"

"I don't know? He's probably in there right now flipping my room to find it." Rachel shrugs like it's no big deal.

"Shit, I knew we should have put it somewhere else..." Quinn trails off. "Are you okay?" She examined the girls face closely, and then she notices the bruised wrist.

"I'm fine… nothings broken, he just caught me off guard is all. I'm sure poor Gob will get the brunt of it later. I am going to need you to help me pay for Brittany's treatment though." Quinn looks past Rachel to where Santana and Brittany stood by quietly. "Please."

"Yeah… no problem, it's my dad's money anyway." She says as she tries to lift the atmosphere. "Come on I saw Doc Church go in this morning, he looked grumpier than ever, might as well make him grumpier."

The medical building was vastly different from the medical wing in the vault. This place only had two rooms, one for patients, and another for surgery and x-rays. The girls were practically run over by the busy doctor who was just getting done restocking the medical room.

"Good morning ladies, what can I do you for? Please for the love of god don't tell me you're pregnant or something."

"What? Oh no, Doctor Church I want you to meet Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce… these two are from the vault… vault 101." Rachel says as she introduces Santana and Brittany to the doctor.

"No shit…" the man looks up from his chart.

"Yeah… they were kinda kicked out, and Santana's friend here, was dosed with something, and is starting to go through withdrawals." The man looks at Brittany, and he takes in her appearance.

"You know the first time I met someone from vault 101 they practically robbed me blind of medical supplies." He eyes them suspiciously. "I had to treat patients with practically nothing until a trader re-stocked me."

"We wouldn't…"

"Don't say you wouldn't because you would. Anybody would to survive. It's human nature. Then again maybe growing up in an environment where you don't have to pay for medical treatment gives you that mind set for you to take." He then takes in Santana appearance. "What did you do when you were in the vault?"

"I was an assistant… um a medical assistant for my father."

"Really? No shit, how long did you practice for?"

"Um, I only worked a day in the lab, but my father did train me for menial medical procedures."

"So what is your friend on then, it doesn't look like psycho to me. She would be more agitated if that was it."

"I really don't know sir… the guy… the guy who did this to her said it was to relax her, but made it sound like it was highly addictive. I never seen anyone come into the medical wing with the same symptoms." However, she was sure there were tons of girls suffering from the same symptoms.

The Doctor thinks about the situation for a minute.

"Well I guess the easiest thing would be to do some blood work then go from there. Is she able to keep down anything?"

"She has been throwing up a lot, but did manage to drink some water this morning. I also think she's running a high grade temp."

"Well… I guess for now she can stay in the back room with the patients until we figure out what she was given. You do have the caps to pay for this right?" He eyes Santana up.

"Um…" Santana looks to Quinn who nods. "Yeah."

"Okay I'll see what I can do, why don't you wait with her just in case her symptoms worsen that way you can tell me… I also will need a vial of her blood. You can handle that much right?"

"Um… yeah, that shouldn't be a problem."

"Great, there is some equipment you can use in the back, then bring the sample to me and I'll runs some tests."

"Okay." She leads Brittany into the patient rooms that consist of four beds and a chair. There were three patients Doc Church was currently treating. Santana sits Brittany down on a medical cot.

"These poor people." Brittany says as she notices one of them is missing a leg, Santana noticed his arm was infected too, which meant it would probably have to be amputated. Otherwise he would probably die.

Santana grabs a syringe.

"Hey this right here isn't going to hurt." She just hoped she was right. After she tied off her tourniquet to find a vein she slowly sticks the needle into Britt's arm, she makes sure not to apply too much pressure otherwise she could go right through the vain, and have to re-stick her.

Brittany was already squirming at the pain, but before she could protest her discomfort Santana had already removed the needle leaving only the catheter in her arm and then attaching that catheter to the test tube. Then with a quick snap she releases the tourniquet, and fills the tube with the blonde's blood. She then quickly removes the catheter from Britt's arm and applies some pressure to the area with a cotton swab to stop the bleeding.

"Wow… you would have made a great doctor San…" Santana smiles, the procedure was so basic anyone could do it, but she gives the blonde a smile for the compliment.

"I don't know B. Maybe you're just a good patient… here hold this cotton ball on your arm, I'll find some disinfectant and a Band-Aid for you. Then I will take the blood to a real doctor." After she found the disinfectant and duck Band-Aids, and bandaged Brittany up. "Okay I'll be right back, are you going to be okay all by yourself."

"You're only going to be right next door, right?"

"Yup… come and get me if you need me okay." Brittany nods but turns her attention to the other patients around her, she was more interested in them than herself. Santana walks back into the waiting room where Quinn and Rachel seem to be having a heated conversation yet again.

"Hey so I'm going to give this blood to the doc you guys don't have to stay…"

"What… no Santana its fine… we were just…"

"What Rachel is trying to say is that we want to know the results too."

Santana then turns towards the other room, she knocks and waits until someone says it's okay to enter before she walks in. Doctor church is currently studying some sort of x-rays.

"Are those from the one legged person?"

"Uh… oh yea… I amputated his leg, but I think he's going to end up losing his arm too. It already has a lot of tissue damage… but look right here." He points to the bone.

"It looks like a small fracture…"

"Yup… now normally you…"

"You could set the arm, or cast it but because of the tissue damage and the current infection you're going to have to take at least 80 percent of his arm."

"Yup… looks like… those damn deathclaws… this man was lucky they didn't cut off his damn head." Santana didn't know what a deathclaw was but by the sounds of them they were some serious shit.

"I uh, brought the blood."

"Oh, right… here let's take a look shall we." He grabs the vile of blood and proceeds to take some out and puts it on a slide, the rest he places in the cooling box.

"Well… " He says after a while of looking at the cells. "I have some good news and some shitty news… good news is I can make out some similarities to a drug called Slasher… I've seen it before but it seems to be laced with psycho… and something I'm not familiar with, maybe Rohypnol, which was a pre-war drug, I could see a vault still having some. Rohypnol isn't addictive, it was commonly known as the date rape drug of its time, it can stay in the system for days, but that's not the problem, it's the Slasher and psycho… now these are treatable when they're separated, a normal person can cleanly get it out of their system in 30 or so hours with some side effects, but the fact that they're together is going to be a bitch. That's about, I don't know 60 hrs. of pain for your friend… then you're going to have some major cravings. I mean ask Rachel, she's been sober a year now, but I've seen her eye that shit every time some junkie comes into town trying to sell."

"So what do you propose for treatment?"

"Well I can give her some med X that can help with some of the withdrawal symptoms, but I'll have to monitor her for a while. Med x is kinda a bitch, but it works it is also slightly addictive, so too much use of it and you will become an addict again, that and it can kill a person. Overdose. The med x will help but she'll still have to go through the motions like any other druggie." Santana was speechless, on the plus side her friend was safe, but the next 40 or so hours were going to be hell.

"Can't we knock her out for any of it."

"Yyyesss… if I had any general sedation, but that stuff is just a fantasy these days. Usually I work with the natural sedation."

"Like?"

"Does your friend like whiskey, wine, or vodka?"

"Um…"

"I think I have some moonshine or beer too… but that stuff is getting kinda old."

"Vodka… I guess."

"Good choice…" He hands her a bottle of Karkov. "I'll be in to administer the med x after she's good and drunk." She guessed he was trying to be funny. She opens the bottle and takes a swig. "Hey now, save some for the patient." Santana walks back into the waiting room, Quinn and Rachel where now sitting on a waiting bench. They looked up when she entered the room.

"So…?" Rachel asks as she was eyeing the bottle of vodka.

"Um… he was able to make out the drug… it was a combination of Slasher and psycho with a lacing of Rohypnol. He thinks she got like 40 or so hours until the main drugs are out of her system. The Rohypnol will take a little longer, but it's not addictive, just a relaxer."

"Shit…" Rachel is looking at her feet.

"He said that the Slasher and the psycho will be the harder ones to get over." Rachel is still looking at her feet… she hadn't used in a year, but some days she thinks it would be easier if she did. The cravings have been always with her, and if it weren't for Quinn she would have never gotten clean.

"Hey it's going to be alright… were going to be here for her, just like I was there for you when you went through this shit." Rachel looks up at Quinn, she can tell she's telling the truth. The last year had been hard but she had made it… and now she was going to be there for Brittany as well. It was weird for Santana to think that she had just met these two people but for some reason it was like they already knew each other. Whatever she was feeling would have to wait their day had just begun and the next couple hours were only going to get harder.

"Well I'm going to go and get Brittany… um sedated I guess." She waves the bottle.

"Hey Santana… Rachel and I are going to step out for some fresh air. If you need us, we'll be over at the Brass Lantern, it's right across from here. Okay." Santana nods before she walks back into the patient's room.

Brittany looks up from a medical chart when she hears the door open.

"Hey… so what did you find out?" She asks as she puts the chart back down. Judging from Santana's body language it wasn't good news. Santana was currently having an internal debate with herself on whether she should tell her friend the truth, or just get her drunk and hope it would be enough. Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt Brittany's arms wrap around her. "It's that bad huh." She says as she hugs her best friend.

Santana sniffs back her tears. "Yeah… um… Artie…" The blonde flinches at his name, "It was a cocktail of drugs, um it had two highly addictive drugs, along with a drug called Rohypnol. Which was why you had a hard time remembering where you were, and why you felt numb…" She trails off. "The Doctor said the next couple of hours are going to be the worst since the drugs are working their way out of your system."

"What about medication?"

"Well…" She holds up the bottle of vodka. "This is supposed to help you through some of the symptoms, then the doctor is going to come in and give you a shot of med X to help flush the rest of the drugs from your system… but the rest… he says will be up to you." Brittany looks confused.

"What do you mean?"

"He said that because this stuff was mixed the cravings might be too much for you, Rachel has been clean for a year and she was only hooked on psycho so you might have similar cravings, or worse."

"But I only used it once… doesn't that like count for anything?"

"According to the doctor this stuff is highly addictive and even though you used once you might still have those feelings for more…" Brittany pulls away from her friend and sits back down on the cot. The situation seemed to only be getting worse. Santana sits down next to her. She needed to make sure Brittany knew that they were in this together. "Hey…" She took a swig of the vodka before passing it to the blonde. "We're going to get through this okay…" Brittany takes a swig. She coughs at the taste. "I'll be there every step of the way." Brittany took another pull from the bottle, this time she didn't cough. Instead, she savored the burning sensation going down her throat. She had no illusion that this was going to be living hell, but the only thing that was giving her that extra bit of hope was holding her. She passes the bottle back to Santana, who takes another swig. Time would tell if they were as strong as they thought they were, all they had was time. Therefore, they savored that with a heavy dosage of vodka.

An hour or so later, Brittany had lost track of time, the bottle of vodka was dwindling. It had maybe a shot left in it. Brittany was already plastered, but Santana insisted she drink the last drop. She giggled when she swallowed. The burning sensation was no more, now all she could taste is the sweet flavor of the drink. She lets the bottle fall to the floor. Her lips were numb, and the room was spinning. In addition, everything Santana said was making her laugh. The next thing she knew she was crawling on top of Santana trying to kiss her, but Santana kept dodging her lips. This made her laugh harder, because she wasn't sure if that's what was happening, or if her aim was just that bad.

"S-sssaanny… come on pplease… I needs a kissss…" but Santana just shook her head no and tried to move away from her again. "Why nnoott…" She slurred. "Is it because of him… you don't want me anymore…" Brittany tries to get up, but she couldn't get her legs to cooperate with her. "Am I just…"

"Brittany… I will always want you. Don't think for one second that I don't… I just…" Tears start to well up… she hated drinking… it always made her so overly emotional. "We're drunk and in a room full of people who are in very bad need of a shower. And as much as I love my sweet lady kisses and want nothing more than to lay here next to you getting my mac on. I just can't right now, do you get what I'm trying to say?"

"No…" she shakes her head stubbornly.

"Here lie down…" She helps Brittany off her, and back onto the cot. Brittany drank a lot, so there was no way she was going to take advantage of her. Brittany's eyes were already closing, and for the next couple of hours the booze would shield her from the nasty side effects of the drugs. Santana grabs a blanket and drapes it over the blonde. She then bends over and gives the blonde a kiss. Brittany smiles as she felt Santana's lips, it was a nice way to send her spinning off to unconsciousness. The last thing she hears is Santana's "I love you." When Brittany was fast asleep, Santana got up, and walked towards the door. She looked over her shoulder at the now peaceful looking blonde, and smiles one last time before she leaves. The waiting room is empty besides Doctor Church who just walked into the room. "She's asleep."

"Okay, I'll go in to administer the Med X soon. Why don't you go and get something to eat. You look like you're about to topple over, and I have enough patients as it is. Try to be back at 8pm… she should be waking up around then." Santana nods. The next thing she knows she's plopping down on a bar stool next to Quinn. How she got there, she couldn't really tell you. She may have drank a little more than she had thought.

"Whoa… you okay there." Quinn asks as Santana rests her head on the table.

"Yeah… that was just some strong vodka."

"Yup… the doctor gave you the good shit too."

"Where's Rachel?" Santana asks when she notices the short brunette was missing.

"She went to order some food. You hungry?" Santana shakes her head no. "Well that's too bad… I think she's getting you iguana on a stick."

"A what?" But before she could answer the brunette was back. She had two iguanas on a stick, one maze on a stick, and three bottles of Nuka Cola.

"Wow, good timing." Rachel's says as she hands the food over to Santana and Quinn.

"What is this?" She asks again… the creature looked funny. Maybe it was, because it was on a stick.

"You're not a vegetarian like Rachel are you, because it's hard enough knowing one." Rachel slaps Quinn's arm.

"There is nothing wrong with eating your veggies Quinn. I just don't like eating animals."

"Yeah, but do you know how hard it is to find your vitamins so you don't get sick… it's hard. If you would just give it up and eat a mirelurk sandwich, maybe I could focus on something else."

"Oh please if I wasn't so high maintenance you wouldn't have any nicknames for me, and your life would be meaningless."

"Babe, I will always be able to call you overdramatic even if you gave up your veggie ways."

"So what is this?" Santana says again. It might be the booze, because she definitely wasn't following the crazy banter.

"It's a small lizard… not like the ones they have out west. It tastes like chicken." Santana eyes it suspiciously.

"This is the first thing I've ever eaten that doesn't come in a can… I think." She takes a bite. "It's surprisingly good." Santana says with a mouth full of lizard.

"See Rachel, she likes it."

"Yes but she's a sheltered vault girl who's never tasted anything without two tons of salt in it for flavor."

"Now this I've had… Nuka Cola… ours is powdered though… you usually have to stir in water." She pops the top and takes a drink.

"Just don't drink too many of those. Unless you have some Rad X."

"Huh?" Santana looks at the bottle she's holding.

"Well sheltered lady… food outside the vaults tend to have some sort of radiation, some foods like that Nuka cola actually have such high levels that if you drink too much you could actually die from radiation poisoning."

"Really?"

"Yup, so remember that, also if you can get your hands on a food process purifier you can sterilize your food before you eat it. That's why places like the Brass Lantern, are so successful. They can charge more for the purified delicious food, and make what we Wastelanders call a profit."

"So changing the subject to something not boring, how is Brittany doing?" Rachel asks, not caring she interrupted her fiery blonde friend in the process.

"She's good, right now… anyway. She just passed out. The doctor said to come back at 8pm. That's when she supposed to be waking up anyway."

"Well, as soon as she can get up, Quinn has agreed to share her room with you… that way you're close to the doctor and if she needs to be rushed in for some reason you won't have to carry her down all those stairs."

"However, you'll be living with my family, which in any situation sucks." Quinn says with a smug smile.

"Hey um Rachel… What were your major symptoms when you were going through withdrawals?"

"Um… during the 30 hrs.… I guess it was the sweats, but I felt like I was freezing. Then there was a moment I thought my head was literally going to explode, I guess it was just a sense that I was helpless too, that the pain was going to be there no matter how much a cried or begged for relief. However, some days I feel like my old self, like I was before Megaton."

"Rachel!" A man comes running up to her… Santana then sees it's not a man at all, in fact it looks like a zombie… or a corpse… Santana ends up spraying her cola out of her mouth. "Yeah I get that a lot." The creature says. Santana's mouth is still hanging open.

"Sorry, I've just…"

"This is Santana… she's new here in Megaton Gob… she didn't mean anything by it."

"No I understand… it's weird seeing a Ghoul with a bunch of fleshlinings… I'm still trying to figure out how I got stuck here working for that fucking man, Moriarty. That reminds me, he sent me to find you and tell you to get up there and get ready for tonight."

"Wow he used those words?" Rachel says with sarcasm.

"No it was something like 'I'm going to kill that girl with a bottle opener then send her remains to a highly radiated area where only feral ghouls can eat her… or something like that."

"Thanks Gob… I'll be right there." The ghoul nods and walks back up toward the saloon. "He's our bartender, makes the best bloody marry. I should go though… I'll sneak out after my shift okay."

"Yeah…" Quinn smiles… she wants to give Rachel a kiss but there are too many Children of Atom around. Rachel waves goodbye, then bounds back towards the saloon. "God I hate that fucking man…" Quinn says coldly. "I mean what a terrible excuse of a person. He gets off by beating his employees."

"What about the money thing?"

"It's how he controls them… he says they owe him money and takes any wages they make to keep them in debt. Rachel was collecting some caps on the side so that she could… so that we could leave… and maybe go out west to New Vegas, or even the New Republic of California… but every time we get some sort of revenue going that fucking man gets in the way."

"Your money, where does he keep it?"

"Rachel says it's in the back room in a safe, but it's computerized so you need the code to get in."

"And this money would help you guys leave."

"Yeah… I mean he would make all his money back Anyways, but yeah… with Rachel's half we could buy a Brahmin and a couple guns, food and water and leave this shit hole."

"What if I got you these caps?" Quinn is a little shocked, what if they could leave? "If I can get them, will you take me and Britt with you? I mean safety in numbers right?"

"Yeah… I guess, that is if you could get the caps…"

"I have my ways… after I help Brittany you and I are to break into that safe, okay…" Quinn smirks.

"Santana Lopez, you got yourself a deal. "

End.


	3. Things can only get better right?

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters.

_Recap:_

_"And this money would help you guys leave, here…"_

_"Yeah… I mean he would make all his money back anyways, but yeah… with Rachel's half we could buy a Brahmin and a couple guns, food and water and leave this shit hole."_

_"What if I got you these caps?" Quinn is a little shocked, what if they could leave? "If I can get them, will you take me and Britt with you? I mean safety in numbers right?"_

_"Yeah… I guess, that is if you could get the caps…"_

_"I have my ways… after I help Brittany you and I are going to break into that safe, okay…" Quinn smirks._

_"Santana Lopez, you got yourself a deal. "_

**Chapter 3... Things can only get better... right?**

* * *

><p>"Come on, I want to show you where you're going to be staying from now on," Quinn says after finishing their meal at the Brass Lantern. Santana was actually surprised on how big Megaton actually was.<p>

"Where did all these people come from?" Santana asks as she pushes her way past people currently crowding the walkways.

"The Wastes mostly, people tend to trickle in from time to time to resupply, or sell merchandise." Quinn leads her towards a crowd of people who are surrounding what looks like an older man.

The man's voice rings out it was calm, yet filled with assertiveness. "The time of Atom is among us my dear children. We must heed all he gives us, and bow to the power he bestows." He preaches.

"Who is that?"

"That's one of the elders of the Children of Atom. He tends to like hearing himself speak. Come on, the building is just up ahead." Quinn leads her up a ramp towards the nearest building.

Santana quickly shuts the door behind her as they enter the building.

"This is one of the bigger buildings in Megaton," Quinn says as they walk through the kitchen towards the stairs. "Down stairs is the chapel, and where the elders sleep. They hold sermons throughout the day, but you'll get used to them. This floor is a common area, the bathrooms are in the back, and you of course are welcome to help yourself to the food. We keep our shelves pretty well stocked." They walk up the flight of stairs. "This is where most of the residents stay. They usually sleep four to a room, that's where my family sleeps." Quinn points to a door before turning to go up another flight of stairs. "I sleep up here." She says as they enter the attic, the room was poorly lit but at least it wasn't as crowded as Rachel's room up in the Saloon. "I'll let Brittany and you take my bed…"

"What… no-" Santana tries to argue.

"I want you to sleep there, trust me on this… I'll bring up a cot later. Brittany will need someplace comfortable while she goes through withdrawals, and I won't let her sleep anywhere but the bed. You're going to want to keep her as relaxed as possible, trust me on this one." Santana can tell she's speaking from former experience, and judging from the girl's tone, she wouldn't be budging on her decision.

"That's really kind of you Quinn, thanks."

"You can thank me by helping me get Rachel out of that Saloon, okay?" Quinn trusted her to keep her end of the deal, and Santana was relying on Quinn to take both Brittany and her along when they leave Megaton.

"Trust me, as soon as Brittany is able to travel I will help you break into that vault."

"Well it almost 8, and you're at least sober now. You'd better head back to the medical building. I'm sure that when Brittany wakes up she's going to need you by her side, and then we can move her up here after the Doc releases her from his care."

Santana makes her way back down the stairs, as she walks out back into the busy streets of Megaton she is stopped by a very tall black man. She tries to step around him but the man holds up his arm and stops her.

"You the new girl everyone is talkin' 'bout?" The man says.

Santana notices his very large gun strapped to his back. It looked like some sort of assault rifle. Then she notices a golden star on the man's duster, the word 'sheriff' is etched a crossed it. This was the town's judge, jury and if need be executioner, this was Lucas Simms. Santana didn't really know what to say; it took a lot to intimidate her but this man did exactly that, so instead of answering him she simply nods yes.

The man eyes her suspiciously. "You from around here? I ain't ever seen you before." He says again as he adjusts his sling.

"N-no sir… we- my friend and I were just passing through, she needed medical treatment so we thought we would try here…"

"You're traveling with that druggie girl who's currently sleeping in the infirmary?"

Santana was about to yell at him, 'how dare he call Brittany a druggie'. "You don't know anything about why she's in the infirmary… sir." She pushes past him.

"Is that right… Well girly, just remember as long as you're staying in this town you will abide by my rules. If the sentries see you wandering around town after curfew, or if I hear anything about missing supplies while you and your druggie girl are in town. I won't hesitate to shoot. We don't take kindly to crime in Megaton, got it?" Simms says with a very dark serious voice. Santana doesn't reply. She continues her way towards the medical building. The town was beginning to die down, the Brass Lantern looked empty as she passed it, and the merchants must have left because the roads were no longer over populated with random Wastelanders.

Santana opens the door to the hospital building, she was back earlier than Doctor Church had suggested, but that really didn't bother her. All she wanted was to get back to Brittany's side, however before she can open the door to the patients' quarters she hears a scream. Out of instinct she flings open the door. Her hand goes right to her 9mm. Inside she sees Brittany flailing on her bed, the next thing she notices is the doctor holding her down. Doctor Church turns when he notices the door open, and immediately moves away from Brittany. Brittany was now sitting as close to the wall as possible with her knees pulled into her chest. Santana can tell she's crying and shaking with fear.

"Santana… I was just trying to administer the med X." the doctor explains.

Santana pushes past the doctor, she sits on the cot next to the frighten girl. "I'm going to need you to leave." Santana says in a low voice. A moment later she hears the door shut. "Britt," She says softly trying to get the blonde to look at her. Brittany doesn't flinch as she feels Santana's arms wrap around her. Instead she melts into her arms and buries her face in the Latina's neck. Santana lets Brittany cry, she rocks the girl, and she tries her best to comfort her. "It's okay Britt, I'm here." After a while Brittany was able to stop crying, but her tears were now replaced by hick ups. "You've been having nightmares about what happened, haven't you?" Santana says. She feels Brittany stiffen in her arms.

"When I woke up this morning… I- (hick) thought it was just a horrible nightmare..." Santana rubs her back. "It's like a haze. Like I couldn't see it clearly, but now… now that's all I see. Every time I close my eyes it's like I'm back in that office, and it happens all over again. I hear his voice, and I feel his weight on… on me…" She lets out a small cry.

"Doctor Church was just trying to give you something to help you…" Santana places her hand to Brittany's forehead. "You feel like you're running a temp." She pulls away from her and wipes the girl's tears away. "So this is what I'm going to do… I'll go get the doc in here, so he can give you the medicine, okay. Then we'll get out of here, and get you something to eat." Santana gets up and walks back towards the waiting room, she opens the door where Doctor Church was waiting.

He looked uneasy.

"Look Santana… I know what that might have looked like, but I was just going in there to give her the shot… I thought she was still passed out but as soon as I touched her she woke up screaming." He explains.

"I know."

"Wait… does she always wake up screaming?"

"No, she used to sleep like a log back in the vault, but now… she's been waking up like that for the last couple of nights. Anyways she's ready for the shot then I'm going to take her out to get some fresh air. I don't think she'll be comfortable staying here any longer, if that's okay." Santana turns to go back into the patient ward.

"No that's fine… I… Is the reason why she isn't sleeping well the same reason why you guys left the vault?"

"Yes." She says quietly.

"You know for a moment I thought you might actually shoot me… I'm glad you didn't."

"Yeah, don't mention it." She then walks into the room. Brittany is now lying with her back to the door. She turns when she hears the door open. Santana sits down next to her on the cot. She grabs ahold of the blonde's hand and smiles. Doctor church kneels down next to them. He preps the med X before looking at Brittany, who looks like she might pass out. "Hey… this is just going to help flush the rest of that crap from your system okay. Then you and I are going to go and see Quinn over at the crazy church place. I hear they have good food there too." Brittany looks confused but smiles at the idea of getting out of the hospital, she'd been there all day. She gasps when she feels the needle sting as it's inserted into her arm. Santana never looks away from her.

"There you go, all done…" the Doctor says as he pulls the needle from Brittany's arm. Brittany can feel the effects of the drug coursing through her, she feels light headed as Santana helps her to her feet. "Now she might experience some disorientation, and nausea, but that's just her body trying to reset itself. If she starts having trouble dealing with the withdrawal symptoms bring her back, and we'll try another dosage of med x. The only thing we can do now is keep an eye on her, and push as much water as you can. You don't want her to get too weak. I also noticed her eyes were extremely dilated, which is probably due to the psycho so light might agitate her eyes. But otherwise I guess I'll see you guys later."

Brittany follows Santana out of the building. She feels tired from not only the lack of sleep, but also from the lack of food. It was now dark in Megaton, and the streets were now bare. Santana sees the Church of Atom up ahead, the people who had been in the square were now gone. She leads Brittany up the ramp, and into the building.

"Please tell me I'm not hallucinating that bomb." Brittany says with a hush tone.

Santana can't help but smile she thought the same thing earlier that day. "Nope it's really there, I was a little shocked when I first saw it too. It turns out the people were going to stay with worship it." Santana says as she tries to lighten the mood. They make their way inside, and as soon as they enter they come face to face with some of the followers from the Children of Atom. Santana notices the elder from the square earlier.

"Well if it isn't two lost sheep, are tho seeking shelter, and wisdom from the Children of Atom?" The man says. Before Santana could answer Quinn's voice comes from the stairs. She was dressed differently from this morning. She looked like she was about ready to go to bed.

"Sorry elder, I forgot to tell you that I was… helping out some friends there from out of town. they needed a place to stay for a few days. I hope that's okay?" She says with an innocent smile. There was no way a mortal man could possibly say no to her. Santana found the situation quite entertaining. The elder could only smile and nod before going back to whatever he was doing before they had walked in.

"Hey, sorry about that, I didn't think you'd be back so soon." Quinn notices how sick Brittany looked. "Why don't you take Brittany to the restrooms to bathe, and I'll get you guys some food and water." Santana nods, a shower did sound amazing right now. As they walk towards the bathrooms Brittany tugs on her arm.

"Did Quinn say they had showers?"

"Yup… let's see how hot the water is shall we." They enter the bathroom, which consisted of two toilets, and a weird looking thing in the corner. Santana walks over to it; the thing had a spout like a shower and knobs like a sink. She turns one of the knobs and water gushes from the spout. This was there first time seeing a bathtub, but it fascinated them both. "It's warm…" She says as she feels the water. She flicks some of the water at Brittany who laughs. Brittany walks closer to the tub as well, and puts her hand under the spout to feel the water. Santana turns the water off after it's filled, and then starts to strip out of her wastelander clothing. Her cargo pants were the first to pool at her feet, followed shortly by the 'oil' stained beater. She then pulls Brittany off the edge of the tub, and helps her with the clasps on her overalls. The grungy hoodie was then discarded. "What happened to that hat you were wearing this morning?" Santana says as she helps take out the girl's bobby pins, and ponytail. She saw Brittany blush. Her fingers brush through Brittany's hair. Making it fall nicely over the girl's shoulders. Santana then pulls out her own hair tie.

"I think… I forgot it at the clinic. You don't think Rachel will be mad… do you?"

"What no… plus we can always run over there and get it before she finds out." Santana lowers herself into the warm water. "Come on… there's enough room in here for you too." She gives the blonde a small smile before scooting back making room for the blonde. Brittany lowers herself in-between the Latina's legs, her back fitting perfectly against Santana's front. She rests her head on the Latina's shoulder, turning slightly so she could make eye contact. The Latina wrapped her arms around her, pulling her closer. They sat quietly, just breathing in each other, and attempting for a moment to just forget about all the craziness there life had become. They were just two girls in a tub. They forgot about the vault, and the drugs. They just focused on what was in front of them. Santana found herself lightly tracing her fingers over Brittany's wrist. The bruises were starting to fade. Brittany felt so relaxed she actually felt herself starting too drift asleep. "Hey… are you falling asleep on me?" Santana whispers, she lightly runs her fingers through Brittany's hair, and lightly kisses the girls ear lobe. Brittany nods slightly. "Do you want to get out?"

"I don't want to get out… " She says after a long moment. "I don't want you to stop holding me like this."

"I will hold you even after were done bathing."

"Yeah… but it's not the same… plus we'll have our clothes on. I like feeling your skin against mine, and I like being able to breath in you without smelling those gross clothes."

"Well… maybe we can wash them and get rid of the funk… huh?

"What about…" Santana starts kissing Brittany's neck.

"While I have no objections against holding you naked, but I think Quinn might be uncomfortable with it, and she will eventually need a place to sleep."

"That's why I don't want to get out just yet. Plus the room is spinning, and if I just stay here while you hold me I feel grounded…" Santana smiles, she then intertwines her fingers with Brittany's, bringing one up to kiss lightly.

"Brittany, we've had a long day, and you need to keep your strength up. I don't want you getting sick, so let's get up, and get you something to eat. That and the water is starting to get cold. Santana helps Brittany out of the tub. She pulls the plug to drain it while Brittany dries off with a towel. After that they put their dirty clothes back on, which might seem counterproductive, but they didn't grab a change of clothing. Quinn was waiting at one of the dining tables with some food as they came out of the bathroom.

"Sorry we took so long, but it took us a while to figure out how to use that thing in there. The vault only has stalled showers. What is that thing called anyway?" Santana asks as Brittany and her sit down at the table.

"Oh… it's called a bathtub… sorry I should have went and got you guys some clean clothes, but I totally forgot. After you to eat I'll get you a change of clean clothes, and I'll see if we can wash those for you. We have a fully functioning washing machine here… Well I made you guys something light. This is just some freshly made peanut butter and jelly on oat bread. It's what Rachel ate while she was getting clean, and was the only thing that didn't make her sick. Hopefully you'll have an easier time keeping things down." Brittany picks up the bread and eyes it suspiciously.

"This looks a hundred times better than what you forced me to eat earlier." Santana says as she takes a bite to encourage the blonde. "They made me eat a lizard earlier today Britt, and it was on a stick… you should have seen it. It did taste pretty good though." Santana said with her mouth full.

"Oh whatever, you'll have to try it Brittany, trust me… iguana on a stick is delicious."

Brittany takes a small bite of the peanut butter toast, and chews it slowly. She couldn't tell if it was good or not, but she did feel a little better after eating a couple more bites. She hadn't eaten anything in the last couple hours, other than vodka. After their meal was eaten Quinn leads them up into the attic, and finds some clothing for the girls to sleep in. Quinn left the two girls in the attic in order to clean their dirty smelly clothes. Santana took this time to brush through Brittany's hair. She made a mental note on the girl's body temp. It still felt hot to the touch. She thought it might have gone down after their bath, but now it seemed to be back. Brittany was sweating which made Santana more worried. A fever could be dangerous if it went too high.

"There… all done… do you want to lie down for a while?" She places the brush back in their equipment bag.

"Not really… I'm not that tired."

"Britt, you were practically falling asleep in my arms a little while ago."

"Yeah… but now were all clothed, and I'm not ready to close my eyes just yet." She says with a yawn.

"Well why don't you lie down, and I'll hold you until you fall asleep."

"Will there be sweet lady kisses?" Santana pretends to think about it, before leaning forward and placing a tender kiss on the Blondes lips. Brittany smiles into the kiss.

"How was that?" Brittany lies down on the bed.

"I think I might need another one." Brittany smiles lightly. Santana hovers over the girl, and leans down to give Brittany another chaste kiss.

"And now?" She whispers against Brittany's lips. Brittany answers by grabbing the back of Santana's neck and pulling her back down into another kiss. This one more heated than the first two. Santana then feels the blonde's fingers at the hem of her shirt. Brittany effectively pulls it over Santana's head before she can protest. She smiles at her small accomplishment. Santana leans in for another kiss, but instead she teases the blonde by not actually touching the girl's lips. Brittany lets out a huff of frustration. "You're still not getting sleepy?" She says in a sly voice.

"Not yet since you have too much clothing on." She pouts.

"Britt…"

"San…You use to love when we slept naked together in the vault."

"And I still do… I'm just… I just want you to feel better… before…"

"But what if your kisses do make me feel better? They make me feel stronger, and take away this pressure I can feel building in my head." Brittany speaks with so much emotion it actually brings tears to her eyes. Santana doesn't really know how to respond. She didn't want to take advantage of a girl who has been through so much in the last couple days, but Brittany is practically crying because she hasn't. "Can you please just be kissing me now?" And that's all it took, these kisses weren't playful, but were full of wanting and passion. Santana was practically biting Brittany's lips, before running her tongue over her lips to soothe them. Brittany couldn't help but moan as Santana slips her tongue into her mouth, giving Santana full control. Brittany's hands found their way to Santana's hips. She pulls the girl on top of her closer into her body. Santana grinds into her ever so gently before breaking the kiss. They didn't even notice Quinn, who walked into the room at some point. Quinn clears her throat, as she announces her presents in the room. Her face is flushed, and obviously she saw the interaction between the girls.

"Sorry I didn't mean to interrupt…"

"It's fine Quinn… Brittany should be asleep anyway." She gives the blonde girl a wink before sitting up and pulling her shirt back over her head.

"I was just bringing up your clothes from the wash. I also brought up some water, and a wash rag for Brittany. I noticed you looked a little feverish downstairs, I thought that maybe this could help." She hands Santana the damp rag who lays it on the girl's forehead. Brittany smiles.

"Does that feel better?"

"A little." She says with a yawn.

"Hey um Santana… can I speak with you outside for a second." Quinn says after a moment. Santana nods and stands up from the bed, she follows the girl towards the door.

"I'll be right back." She says to Brittany before she closes the attic door behind her.

Quinn paces back and forth. "Okay so I really don't know how to say this because… well, I'm just going to say it bluntly. You can't do that kind of stuff. Here in Megaton… especially in this building." Santana looks confused.

"I can't do what things?"

"Kiss… or like be an item with Brittany."

"Wait… what are you talking about?"

"Look I know it makes no sense, but this town is what most people would call small minded, and overly religious. The Church of Atom, it doesn't take kindly to same sex relationships."

"But you and Rachel are together…" Quinn covers Santana's mouth.

"Yeah… when we're in the Wastes… once we come back here we have to pretend not to be. Look I'm not saying this to stop you from being there for Brittany, because she's going to need you. I'm just warning you that if it was anyone else besides me, or Rachel knew you were together they wouldn't hesitate to kill you. That's another reason why Rachel and I were leaving. So just remember, outside that room you can't be anything but a friend to Brittany. Unless you pay for it at the Saloon… I guess that doesn't matter, but that's only because Moriarty can get away with anything." Santana takes in the information, and if showing that kind of affection in public would put them in danger the she would make sure they didn't get caught. "I understand… but just to be clear… Rachel and you are an item?" Santana asks in a hushed tone.

"I thought that might have been obvious. I mean the first time we met I was practically ripping the girls clothes off." Quinn says with a smug smile.

"Well I wasn't going to say anything, but yes I remember… I guess I didn't know if it was just a friends with benefits thing, or if you guys were actually together."

"I'm not going to lie to you… it's extremely hard to not kiss her in public, and it sucks that I can't do anything about her job. We've had our ups and downs, but somehow we've worked through it."

"Does that involve you making her scream your name…?" Quinn's eyes bulge. "Oh… never mind, I see… she makes you scream hers." Santana says with some smugness.

"Oh yeah, and what about you two… if I hadn't walked in when I did…" Santana smiles, she knew nothing like that would have happened.

"Actually Brittany and I have never actually… we usually just make out…"

"But from what I saw…"

"We're really close and she's special to me, but I wanted to make it special for our first time. But then she was…" she clears her throat "and well here we are."

"You guys seem to really love each other…" Santana nods as a tear slides down her cheek. "Hey I also wanted to give you this…" She hands Santana a box of 9mm rounds. "I found them in Springville… I don't own a weapon like that, but I noticed you did. If these aren't the right type we can always see if Moira will trade for the right ones."

"No these seem to be the right millimeter. Thanks… I'm sure we'll need them when we go into the Waste."

"Oh we're going to need more than that little pee shooter… trust me. You saw that patient in the clinic today, the one missing a leg. He was attacked by a deathclaw… and even his combat shotgun wasn't enough to kill that damn thing."

"What is a deathclaw? I mean from the looks of it his arm was practically ripped off."

"Well… I've never actually seen one… but supposedly they like mutated from some creature, and they're like 8 feet tall. They're called deathclaws because of the size of their claws. I've also talked to merchants who've seen some with 8 inch nails coming out of their hands… let's just say that before we leave we're going to need to buy some bigger weapons, and maybe even a couple of stealth boys." Santana looks even more confused. "Oh a stealth boy is just like this devise that can temporally bend the light around you… some mercenaries use them to hunt down deathclaws, but you can also use them to sneak by them or hide from some of the other monsters of the Wastes."

"You mean there are more than just these 8ft creatures out there?"

"From what I've heard there are hundreds of different creatures that are hostile towards humans. I mean you have deathclaws, Yoa Guai's, super mutants, feral ghouls, trogs, wild dogs, did I mention the giant scorpions? That and the different human gangs that shoot first and ask questions later… like raiders."

"And you want to go out into the Waste for that?"

"No… but I'm willing to if it means that Rachel and I can be together. Plus there are other settlements that can protect us if we need to. I mean there's always Rivet City… or maybe even the brotherhood of steel… I've heard that New Vegas is like the land of opportunity… we could open our own restaurant close to the strip…" Quinn trails off… she has been dreaming about these things for so long. She just hope's that they'll become more than just dreams. "So… I hope you're a good shot with that gun… cuz we're going to need it when we leave." Quinn says. Santana thinks back to the only thing she'd ever shot it before, even though she hadn't been very far away from Abrams, she had hit him… then again he didn't die…

"Well I better get back." She points to the door.

"Yea… I'll be up later, Rachel said she was going to stop by after she's done working, but we'll be quiet."

Santana nods before saying her good night to Quinn, she walks back into the attic where Brittany was waiting for her. Brittany's eyes were closed but Santana could tell she was still awake. Instead of calling her out on it she crawls into bed next to her. Snuggling closer into Brittany's side and wrapping her arms around in the process.

She slept soundly. It wasn't until she heard the door open and close hours later that she woke up. Rachel must have just gotten done with work. She remains quiet and listens to the couple talk quietly to each other.

"I'm sorry Quinn I didn't mean to take that out on you, you've always been supportive. I just had a sucky day." Rachel says as she sits on the cot.

"It's okay… I know it's hard to work up there with that man, but like I said downstairs if Santana can break into the vault we can leave this place."

"I know I was… I just don't want to get my hopes up… I don't know if I could handle it if it doesn't actually happen… or if you get caught, and hurt."

"Everything will be fine… Brittany will get better, and then we'll leave this stupid town for good." She hears them kiss.

"I'm glad we met them… it's like it was meant to be. Although I am kind of disappointed that I didn't get you to scream my name last night-," Santana laughs. She knew Rachel was the topper.

"You're not actually awake, are you Santana?" She hears Quinn asks. Santana rolls over to face them. She doesn't say anything, but she knows the blonde is probably beat red with embarrassment. "Well since you're awake, Rachel wanted me to ask you if you wanted to do a little shopping tomorrow. That is if Brittany is feeling better."

"Oh, I can always watch her too." Rachel adds.

"Shopping?"

"Well there's this supermarket like five miles away from here… and if you wanted to we could see if we can find some supplies there as well. We might also get in some target practice along the way, if you're up for it."

"Yea I mean… as long as Britt is okay with it… I would like to get the lay of the land so to speak."

They talked a little longer before Rachel leaves and goes back up to the saloon room. Normally she would stay with Quinn, but the chances of her falling off the cot were too much for her to risk it. Santana fell to sleep shortly after she left. She was woken up by Brittany early that morning. Brittany practically rolled right overtop of her then ran out of the room. Santana got up to follow her. She walked into the bathrooms only to hear the blonde emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet. She flips on the light.

"P-please turn them back off… the lights hurting my eyes." She flips the switch back off and walks up behind the blonde who was dry heaving the rest of the contents from her stomach. Santana rubs the girls back. Brittany felt like she was on fire.

"Shit Britt, you're burning up…" Brittany can't actually acknowledge her, since she was currently gagging with her head in the toilet. "We need to get your body temperature down." Santana draws Brittany a very cold bath them helps the blond into the water. Brittany is still disoriented, but the cold water feels like heaven against her skin. She cries when Santana makes her drink some purified water mostly because she didn't want to puke it up again.

The shopping trip would have to be canceled for another day. There was no way Santana could leave when Brittany was in this much pain. They spent the majority of the day in bed… Dr. Church came by around noon that day, and gave Brittany another injection of Med-X. This made Brittany throw up again. Around dinner time, Quinn brought the girls some food, Brittany took little bites from her sandwich, but the nausea was too much for her to eat the whole thing. She finally fell asleep around midnight.

Santana noticed that Brittany's fever had broken around the same time she had fallen to sleep. This was a clear sign that she had effectively sweat out the remainder of the drug. Tomorrow she would leave Brittney in the care of Rachel while Quinn takes her to ransack the local supermarket for food, and supplies. This would bring them that much closer to leaving Megaton. All they could do is to take it day by day, and pray that things could only get better... right?

End... I'm working on the next chapter... it should be up soon... and will be longer than this one.


	4. Holy Crap I Woke Up a Sex Demon

Disclaimer: I don't own glee or its characters

Fallout

**Chapter 4: Holy Crap I Woke Up a Sex Demon**

* * *

><p>"Baby will you please just eat your food?" Santana watches Brittany from across the table, who is just staring at a bowl of soup in front of her. "Please Britt… at least eat some of it." This has been going on for days now, Brittany would spend hours just staring at her food until it got cold, but for some reason she wouldn't eat any of it. Santana had to practically beg her to drink water.<p>

"I'm not hungry…" Brittany says as she stirs the broth around. She didn't want to eat, because it wasn't like she could keep any of it down. And the thought of throwing it up later only reinforced her decision to not eat. She was getting tired of being up close and personal with a toilet, it just seemed easier to not eat in Brittany's mind.

Santana lets of a breath of frustration. "Brittany… you haven't eaten more than four bites of any meal all week, how can you not be hungry?" Brittany shrugs. It started to get dark in Megaton, soon the children of atom would come inside to eat. Santana had hoped to be out of their way before that. "Please… Brittany at least drink the broth… you need to keep your strength otherwise you'll just get sicker than you already are." Brittany slams down her spoon, another thing that had developed over the last couple of days was Brittany's mood swings. Her emotions would spike like crazy and it was usually Santana that would get the brunt of it.

"Why don't you eat it!" She yells across the table. "I told you I wasn't hungry, why can't you just trust me to eat when I'm hungry!" She pushes the bowl away from her. Santana waits a minute she tries to hold back her tears, but it's too late, she looks at her friend with tear stained eyes trying to show her that she was just trying to help. She couldn't stand seeing Brittany becoming weaker and weaker over the last couple days. It was killing her that Brittany just ignored her pleas. She was tried and the weight of this situation was being to wear on her emotions as well. She stands from the table without saying another word to the blonde, and walks up the stairs to the attic. When Santana closes the door to the attic she pretty much collapses on the bed and lets her emotions take over. She has never felt so out of control in her life, all she wanted was for her friend to eat something with nutrients. She cries so hard that in the end she gives herself the hiccups. Then she hears the door open. She doesn't turn to see who it is, she just decides to focus on regaining control of her body so she damn hiccups would go away. She feels the bed dip behind her then long arms wrap around her.

"I-I'm sorry." Brittany says quietly. Santana just looks at the wall she can't think of anything to say to the blonde that she already hadn't said over the last few days. "I ate the rest of the noodles." She says in her quiet voice. Trying to get some sort of acknowledgment from Santana, but is still met with the silent treatment. "I know you're mad-"

"I'm not mad at you," Santana interrupts, "I just… I don't want you to get sick. You need to eat even if you throw it up 10 minutes later… some of the nutrients will still get into your system."

"I know." Brittany says, she had heard the speech numerous times now.

"Then why do you fight me every time I tell you? It's killing me that you're just giving up." Brittany pulls away from Santana, she looks shocked by the statement.

"I'm not giving up." She says in a shocked voice.

"I don't want to lose you…" Santana says quietly still looking at the wall.

"I'm not giving up!" Brittany says a little louder this time. "I know this is taking a toll on you as well, but I'm not giving up. And for you to say I am…" Brittany's hurt, she thought she was getting better, she was just having trouble keeping food down. Why couldn't Santana see how hard she was fighting, why did it feel like she was losing the love of her life over something like food. "I'll eat more okay, even if it comes back up… I promise." Brittany says after a moment. Santana finally turns around to face the blonde, she could see the determination in Brittany's face, she wanted to prove her wrong, and she was going to try harder to do so. Santana reaches up and caresses one of Brittany's cheeks. It was almost as if the old Brittany she knew, and loved was back, and was just waiting to make an entrance.

"I believe you… " Santana says in a loving voice, she then pulls the blonde back down on the bed. "Now let's get some sleep before those crazy church goers start praying and keep us up all night, okay?" Brittany pulls a blanket over the two of them, and then leans forward to place a kiss on the back of Santana's neck. Santana rolls back over to face Brittany, so she can hold her girl in her arms. She snuggles into the blonde and they fall asleep in each other's arms. That was until Brittany woke up, and sprinted out of the attic. A process in which woke both Santana and Quinn, who must have snuck into the room at some point. Santana gets up from the bed and follows Brittany, knowing where she would be. The bathroom where she'd been puking any remnants of noodle soup into the grungy toilet bowl. Santana flicks on the light as she enters the dingy bathroom only to find Brittany on her knees holding onto the bowl of the toilet as her body shakes violently. She was dry heaving, which meant her stomach was now completely empty. Santana kneels down behind her and pulls her hair back, she then rubs the girl's back, trying to get the girl to relax so she stops dry heaving. It must work, because now Brittany is resting her forehead on the toilet seat trying to catch her breath. She then wipes any chucks from her face with the back of her hand. She looks exhausted.

"This sucks…" Brittany's say with a groan. She was getting sick and tired of getting all up close and personal with the toilet throne. She only wanted to be this close with Santana, and she was sure Santana wouldn't appreciate being thrown up on.

"Hey… do you want to brush your teeth?" Santana says after a minute. She helps the girl to her feet and flushes the Jon in the process, then she leads her sick friend over to a sink. She had grabbed Brittany's tooth brush, knowing very well the girl would need it. Brittany eagerly brushed the residue taste from her mouth. After she cleaned herself up enough she turns to notice Santana looking at her pipboy. It was 5:30 in the morning. "Do you want to watch the sun rise this morning?" She asks the blonde. Brittany's face instantly brightens, watching the sun rise was now her favorite thing to do in the morning. Quinn and Rachel had shown them shortly after they'd arrived in Megaton, that the sun indeed raises in the east and sets in the west. Something they had only read about in books, and had never experienced while living in the vault. They make their way outside and up some of the ramps in the town to get to the highest viewpoint you could find in Megaton without having to go outside the walls. Brittany was in awe as the sun beams up over the horizon, she could practically feel its rays hit her skin, and warmed her. Santana watched as Brittany smiled her megawatt smile, putting the sun to shame in the process. She couldn't think of anything that could outshine a Brittany smile, and her smile was the only thing that mattered to Santana.

"Look San… isn't it beautiful?" She points at the sun.

"Yes it is." Santana says, she isn't staring at the sun, but at her friend instead. Brittany blushes when she notices she isn't talking about the sun. She wraps her arms around her friend and pulls her into a warm hug. Below them the town was starting to come alive. People were staggering from the bars or coming out of the common house.

Brittany noticed some of the Brahmin herders below were feeding their herds. She points down at them. "Can we go and see them this morning?" She asks with puppy dog eyes. There is no known way to actually say no to Brittany, so instead Santana starts to climb down from the observation point. She helps Brittany as well, then they make their way back down to the town below. Brittany practically runs into the fence, she thought the cows were awesome. Santana on the other hand stands a couple feet from the fence. She didn't enjoy the Brahmin as much as Brittany. They were just too freaky for her. She did enjoy watching Brittany though, it was the first time in a long time the blonde bounded around.

'She's getting better.'

After saying goodbye to the cows, Santana leads the blonde back towards the Church, most of the followers would be up by now so they might as well go see if Quinn was up.

"Good morning girls." A man calls to them as they enter the building. It was Quinn's father. They had been introduced to him a couple of days ago. Santana didn't really like him, there was just something off about him, and she was learning to listen to her gut feeling, especially when it came to people.

"Good morning Mr. Fabray." The girls said in unison.

"What are you two doing up so early in the morning?" He asks suspiciously.

"We just wanted to watch the sunrise." Santana says, Quinn's dad didn't know that they were from the vault, and she was going to make sure it stayed that way.

"Well isn't that nice, well since you guys are up, are you planning on joining us for Morning Prayer?" He says all too excitedly.

'Um no.' Santana thinks. 'That was the one downside to living down here, the Children of Atom were now forcing their beliefs on us since we decided to stay here. At first it was like very discrete but now they were inviting us at every moment to get involved. It was hard to tell them to back the fuck off since they were letting us stay here for free.' "Um… we might have to put a rain check on that… I'm going to take Brittany to the doctor this morning right after we bathe and eat breakfast. Right Brittany?" She nudges the blonde who is busy staring at the guy's hair.

"Oh… right… we've got a lot to do." She says, but isn't really sure what she'd agreed to. Santana practically pulls Brittany up the stairs. They enter the attic and come face to face with a very naked Quinn.

Quinn shrieks and tries to cover herself as best as she can. "Don't you two knock!" she yells at Brittany and Santana. Quinn was still not use to her roommates coming and going as they pleased. Santana looks away from the blushing blonde trying to give her some privacy as she tried to pull on her clothes. Brittany on the other hand smiled, and didn't look away from the shorter blonde, giving Quinn a very shameless once over in the process. "Brittany… do you mind?" Quinn says as she attempts to pull her shirt over her head.

"Do I mind what?" Quinn rolls her eyes after she pulls on her pants, she was getting used to the blonde's crazy antics. "Oh… you mean… do I mind seeing you naked? Not really, I can see why Rachel likes you so much… Santana did-"

"Brittany!" Both Quinn and Santana say at the same time. Santana gives her friend a harsh stare.

"Oh I didn't mean I didn't want to see you naked San… I mean it's my favorite thing ever, I'm just saying, Quinn has a nice body, and should walk around naked more often. It's just a compliment."

"We'll wait for you outside." Santana pulls Brittany out of the room so Quinn can finish dressing alone. Brittany's a little confused on why the young Latina seemed angry with her, she was only speaking the truth, Quinn was hot, what was wrong with that? "Come on we'll grab some breakfast before we get ready for today." Brittany was about to object, but as soon as she was about to say she wasn't hungry she remembered she was going to try harder. So she bites back her words and follows Santana downstairs to the common area. Santana was happy she didn't have to fight with Brittany this morning. Brittany ate everything on her plate without making a fuss about it. She even drank two glasses of water.

Brittany just hoped that she wouldn't be gripping the toilet bowl in 10 minutes. 'I hate that damn toilet.' She thinks as she washes down the last bit of food with water. After breakfast they both went up to change into their slightly cleaner Wastelander outfits. Quinn had already left to see Rachel this morning, which gave the girls some much needed privacy. Brittany loved the way Santana would run her fingers through her hair, or down her neck.

"So you must be feeling a little better this morning huh?" Santana says as she continues to run her fingertips through the girl's hair. She notices the lazy smile on the blonde face, she was obviously enjoying the massage. Brittany shrugs at the question, she really didn't know how she felt. Whenever she got sick it has been usually while she was sleeping.

"Well I'm not clutching the toilet just yet, so that's a good start right."

Santana smiles, Brittany was indeed beginning to sound like her old self again."Yes, I suppose that's a good sign." Brittany sits up and turns to look at Santana, she wanted to show her that she was getting better, and that she didn't have to worry about her so much. Instead she leans in and kisses Santana, who immediately returned the kiss. What had started out as a simple kiss turned into something more, and before Santana could protest both her and Brittany's top were off. Brittany was hovering over her, kissing her way down Santana's tone body. Santana can't help but moan as the girl's lips grazed over her hardened nipple. She couldn't believe this was actually happening, and even though a part of her said it was wrong or too soon she really didn't want to listen to them.

'It couldn't be wrong if Brittany was setting the pace right? If it was too soon she would have stopped me by now.' Whatever internal battle Santana was fighting in the end she sided with the side that had gotten her out of her bra without her even realizing it. She felt like she was about to combust, and she was in no way pure. However, sex had never felt like this before. Maybe because sex had never felt like more than a chore to her before now. Back in the vault whenever she'd slept with Puck it was just to keep him away from Brittany, there were no feelings between them. She had always felt so empty after he was done flopping around on top of her, even when by some miracle he'd make her cum. 'It was better with feelings.' There had never been this kind of heat, or this feeling of need. Whatever Brittany was doing to her made her want more. Santana practically growls when Brittany pulls away from her. Brittany smirks she'd definitely felt the heat, but she'd wanted to appreciate her work before she indulged. Santana was practically squirming underneath her, trying to desperately get some sort of release.

"Look who's impatient." Brittany gleams above her. Santana lets out a pout, she never thought Brittany would be a tease.

"Please Britt… I need you." Santana confessed as she pulled the blonde back down to her lips. Kissing the girl fiercely trying to show Brittany how serious she was. Brittany smiled into the kiss, she felt Santana's hips start to move against her. Brittany lets out a small growl as she started trailing her kisses back down the column of the Latina's neck. She licked and nipped at the girl's collarbone while her fingers were teasing the girl's darkened nipples. Santana almost cry's out in pleasure, she holds it back, trying to make sure no one hears them. These houses were only made out of sheet metal, and weren't very sound proof. She feels the blonde's fingers moving down to her knees. The blonde manages to rid them of the rest of their clothes before settling back down on top of the Latina. Again she feels Brittany massaging her breast, taking her nipples between her thumb and forefinger and tweaking them ever so slightly. Santana's moans were now being swallowed by the blonde's lips. Her nails were raking themselves down her lover's back, she moaned again as Brittany's luxurious lips attached themselves around her left darkened bud, she felt her teeth tweak it, sending shivers of pleasure through Santana's body. And that's all it took to crack Santana."Fuck, Britt… take me now." She lets out in a small moan. Brittany releases Santana's breasts and starts to lower herself. Trailing open-mouthed kisses down the brunette's flexing abs. Santana's muscles fluttering with each swipe of Brittany's tongue. She felt the blonde run her hands over her hip bones just to feel how smooth they actually were, and then felt them run down her legs, spreading them further apart. Brittany brought her mouth down, and ran her tongue through the moist center. She hears Santana gasp below her. Santana arches off the bed when Brittany swipes her again, this time with more forceful swipes. She flicks her clit with the tip of her tongue before she crawls back up the girl's body. Her mouth was replaced by her middle and ring finger, which were now sliding through the girl's slick center, giving Santana just enough, but still withholding her from release.

"I wanted you… to be my first." Brittany whispers into Santana's ear. She doesn't want to kill the mood so she begins trailing kisses along her ear lobe. "I've wanted to know what you taste like. What… what you feel like…" she whispers before she slides her two fingers deep inside Santana. Curling them upward firmly as she drew them back slowly. She pushed in again as she suckled Santana's earlobe. "And you know what?" She husks. Santana was having a hard time breathing and Brittany's dirty talk wasn't helping either. Then she feels Britt press down on her clit again with each tortuously slow pulse of her long fingers inside of her.

Santana's nails dig into Brittany's back in desperation… she then rasps out "…w-hat?..." This was more difficult than she thought should be. Brittany grins at the whimper in the Latina's voice.

"You did not disappoint." She says hotly against Santana's earlobe. The blonde begins a steady increase in her pace, studying how the brunette's body began to tense as she reached a furious pace, her palm slapping hard against the sensitive bundle of nerves. Santana closed her eyes, and threw her head back, but kept her hands busy. Blindly she slid her hands in between the blonde's legs. Her fingers fumbled in the wetness she found there but quickly found what they were looking for, making Brittany gasp above her.

"Fuck." Brittany rested her forehead against Santana's and closed her eyes. "That feels so good." She rocked her hips in time with Santana's. Santana can't help but moan and grunt in pleasure, which then lead into whimpers and shaky gasps as she neared her orgasm.

"Yes… so close, baby. I'm so close." She quickened her pace with her fingers, silently begging Brittany to do the 's forearms burned but she bit her lip and pushed harder into Santana, trying to give her that release. As her ecstasy took her, Brittany grew more forceful with her thrusts, sending Santana closer to her edge. Her blue eyes watched as the Latina withdrew her hands from her own center and stuck them in her own mouth, sucking all of Brittany's essence off of them. She moans at the taste."You taste so good." Santana rasps. Brittany leaned forward and captured the brunette's lips with her own, she moaned at the taste of herself still on the Latina's tongue. She then lowered herself back down between the Latina's thighs and sucked her clit between her couldn't help but buck her hips every time the blondes tongue runs itself over her sensitive nerves, Brittany's tongue was now matching the relentless pace of the fingers that were still inside her. That's when she feels the pull deep in the pit of her stomach and then the sudden burst of relief that causes her to scream out Brittany's name. Her toes curl her body shook uncontrollably her arms grasped desperately around Brittany, pulling the blonde down against her. It was perfect. She then felt Brittany's lips on her again… kissing her neck gently as she came down from her high. She was still lost in pleasure, floating outside her body, basking in bliss. "Holy fuck." Was all Santana could say once she was able to speak again. "Just… holy fuck. That was… amazing." She opens her eyes and looks at the blonde still hovering above her. "Where… h-how?" She wanted to know where Brittany had learnt all of the techniques she had just used on her. Brittany gleams, she was happy she'd done it right. She then lies down next to Santana, burrowing her face into Santana's neck. She listens to Santana's heart beat as it begins to slow down.

"So I did good?" Brittany asks in pure innocents.

"Um… yeah… I thought the earth shattering orgasm gave that away." Santana says. She was still trying to wrap her mind around what just happened. "But I don't… when?"

"Where did I learn everything from?" She asks Santana's question for her. "Rachel… it was when you and Quinn went out to get us food. I was curious and needed something to distract me… she had some very good advice, and I had a lot of questions." She says licking the bottom of the girl's jaw.

"Well remind me to thank Rachel the next time we see her… I mean my god… but you didn't…"

"No but that's okay… next time you can pitch."

"Pitch?" Santana asks in confusion.

"I have no idea what it means… Rachel said something about pitching or topping, turns out she's a topper." Brittany says with a grin.

"Yeah… so I've heard." She remembered the brief conversation she had with Quinn when they had first moved into the church. "That reminds me… we should probably get cleaned up before someone comes looking for us. I'm sure they don't want to see two naked girls basking in bed."

Brittany nudges Santana with her shoulder. "Speak for yourself, I'd pay to walk in on us in compromising positions." Santana laughs loudly.

"I for one… am strongly against any outsiders getting an eye full of what just happened in this bed. In fact I think we shouldn't tell Quinn that we just had sex in her amazingly noisy bed."

Brittany giggles again. "I'm sure we won't have to tell her… she'll probably just smell it…"

"Ew… gross… Britt that's not funny." Brittany laughs harder.

"Come on… let's get dressed before someone crashes in here… like Quinn's dad or something."

With some effort they were able to put their clothes back on, they were just about to grab their towels to go a bathe when the attic door opened.

Quinn is practically pulling Rachel through the door.

"That's enough… I'm not going to act like it doesn't bother me anymore Rachel!" Quinn shuts the door, she looks to Santana and Brittany who look confused. "I'm not letting you go back to that place, don't you get it. Every single night I pray that the next day you'll still be alive. Every night… don't you get it… I love you, and I've had enough of that man exploiting you for any of that filth that walks through his door."

Santana notices the bruises on the girl's arms, then she notices the black eye she was now sporting. Quinn sits Rachel down on the cot and then kneels down in front of the crying girl. She moves the long brown locks of hair from the girls face then pulls the tiny diva into a hug.

"I-m… sorry…" Rachel stutters through ragged breaths.

"No… this isn't your fault Rachel don't you get it… but I can't have you working there okay… I can't…" Quinn ends in a whisper. Santana and Brittany don't really know what's going on but they stay for support. After a couple minutes Rachel looks at them in confusion.

"You guys totally had sex in here… didn't you." This makes Brittany burst out in laughter, Santana on the other hand looks totally embarrassed.

"Wait you two had sex in my room?" Quinn eyes the bed.

"It… ah just sort a… happened." Santana stutters lamely. At least the heated conversation was over.

"Did you do that thing with your fingers I told you about?" Rachel asks. Brittany nods with excitement.

"Melted her like," she snaps, "That."

"Okay, this is a good time for a different conversation…" Quinn says, "Like for starters when are we going to high tail it out of here?" The girls all look to one another.

"I think I can start traveling… I mean… I don't feel like I need to sleep all day… and the sickness is getting better… I only threw up this morning… which is an improvement." Brittany says.

Santana nods in agreement… Brittany was still weak, but her strength would come back as soon as her appetite did. She didn't see why they couldn't start to prepare to leave.

"We still need to get into the bank vault… and Quinn wants to see if there's supplies at that supermarket..." Rachel adds.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to leave now… if we could just go." Quinn says

"We can't just leave… Rachel's right we need to be prepared for the Waste… otherwise we won't last a day." Santana says. "Quinn and I will go to the supermarket tomorrow… if there's anything there we'll bring it back. When we get back we'll ransack the vault and take the caps we need." Santana finishes. The groups seem to all agree with the plan… it seemed full prof, now they could only hope it would run smoothly.

"And you are not working tonight…" Quinn says, it looks like Rachel is about to argue, but before she can Quinn holds up her hand to stop her. "No I don't care… I'll pay for your whole night if I have to… hell we'll just take it back tomorrow night, but you will not be going back up to that saloon, and hopefully in two days you won't ever have to even think of that place."

"Well I think that's enough drama for one day… let's eat." Rachel's says. They find themselves down at the Brass Lantern… they ate the crappy food, and hoped would be the last time at that restaurant. Quinn ended up paying 1200 caps for Rachel's 'services' that night, but it was chump change compared to what they would get back by tomorrow night.

So after a much needed bath, Santana and Brittany collapse on the bed they had officially christened, hopefully for the last time. Brittany couldn't help but laugh at Quinn and Rachel, and how they had to share the cot. Rachel was practically lying ontop of her blonde like a throw blanket as Quinn wrapped her arms around the brunette to keep her from rolling off her.

"Aw… look Sanny… they're so cute." Quinn was kissing the diva's forehead. "Maybe we should have taken the cot so you could lay on me like that…" Brittany says as she eyes the couple.

"Um no… you two already claimed a bed permanently so the cot is ours." Quinn says smugly.

Brittany pouts. "But… San… I want you to… snuggle…" she practically rolls the Latina on top of her.

"Satisfied?" Santana asks.

"Well not yet… but as soon as these two leave…"

'Holy crap… I woke up a sex demon.'

"Please whatever you two do… don't have sex while I'm in the room." Quinn says as she snuggles into her diva blanket. The room goes quiet, and eventually the only noise you hear is the soft breaths of Quinn and was a little restless, and her vibes were definitely radiating keeping the Latina awake as well.

"Britt… you need to go to sleep… tomorrow will be a busy day for both of us." Santana says with a yawn.

"I know… but I'm nervous… what if something happens to you while you're out there… why can't I come with?" Brittany whispers.

"Babe… I know you think you're strong enough… but you should rest before we blow this Popsicle stand."

"What?" Brittany questions.

"Before we leave… after we raid the bank vault… we're going to have to travel nonstop until we get far enough away from Megaton… okay? Quinn says that Moriarty has a lot of connections and may send someone after us in order to get his money back… so tomorrow while were out grabbing supplies, you and Rachel are going to pack any other supplies will need."

"I really hope everything goes smoothly… I don't want Rachel to have to go back up to that bar… it makes Quinn sad."

"I know Britt…"

"She looks like you did the day you found me in Artie's office." It was true… Santana knew exactly how Quinn was feeling… helpless, and unable to protect the one you love. But unlike Quinn… Santana had only felt that once, and even though that pain was still there it was behind them. Quinn had to go through it every day, and there was nothing she could do to prevent it… except running away.

"Yeah… let's try and get some sleep okay?" Santana pulls the blonde tight to her and eventually falls into a deep sleep. They woke early, and for once not to a blonde vaulting over them to get to the bathroom to puke her guts out. Nope it was due to very loud people who decided it was okay to sing about a bomb early in the morning. The next thing they heard was a loud thump.

"OW… Quinn!" Brittany and Santana sit up to see a small diva lying on the ground.

"What did I do?" Quinn asks lazily, as she rubs the sleep out of her eyes.

"You let me fall out of bed! Again!" Rachel yells, she then gets up and storms out of the attic.

"Wow." Santana says.

"Yeah… she's a little moody in the morning… usually around her 6th cup of instant coffee she starts acting normal."

"So what time do you think we should go today?" Santana asks as she rolls out of bed and starts pulling on her gear, Quinn does the same.

"Right after breakfast… I have a crate down in Springville with some travel supplies we can pick up. Then the super mart is just to the east of here… if all goes well we should get back just in time for the gate to close for the night."

"Well what are we waiting for… let's get to it." Santana says as she pulls Brittany from the bed.

They eat breakfast together in the Church of Atom. Santana then grabs some stimpacks Amata had given her, along with two full clips of ammo for her 9mm and a bottle of purified water.

Quinn meets her out front with Rachel and Brittany. They had just set up a deal with one of the Brahmin herders to buy a cow. Turns out Rachel can be very persuasive, and Quinn knows how to barter so they actually bought the Brahmin for less than they thought they would have. Brittany was ecstatic… she even named it, the four of them were now proud owners of Larry, the two head twelve nipple mutant cow.

'Yea!' Santana thought. 'I'm so not leading that thing.'

They make their way up towards the gates of Megaton, it was kind of exciting that they were going outside the walls of the now familiar town of Megaton for the first time. The gate lifted effortlessly and the four of them walk out. The only thing that really sticks out is a robot standing guard. It actually greets them as they walk past it.

"Okay… please be careful San." Brittany says just as Santana is about to say the same thing to her.

"I will… promise me you won't leave Rachel's side until I get back." Brittany nods, even though she didn't need a baby sitter, she had planned on hanging with the brunette anyway… she was interested in finding out if Rachel had any more sex tips she'd be willing to share.

"That goes the same for you Rachel… I don't want you to go up to that saloon until I get back."

"But… how am I supposed to pack my stuff…"

"Well go up there when I get back okay? Just keep an eye on Britt, we'll be back before you know it." She looks around to make sure there isn't some resident of Megaton lurking around then she leans down and gives her diva a sweet kiss.

"What was that for?"

"That was just in case I don't make it back… I love…" Quinn confession is cut off by the diva's lips.

"So freaking cute." Santana rolls her eyes… before she herself leans up to kiss her blonde.

Brittany didn't want her to stop, but eventually Santana pulls away. Quinn and her turn and make their way back down towards the shag shack. Rachel and Brittany yelled there good bye until they were out of sight.

"Well… that was strangely emotional." Rachel says as she grabs a hold of the blonde's hand and pulls her back inside. Brittany liked the diva… they had a lot in common… both where toppers… both suffered through a drug problem, and both were extremely depressed that they were left behind while the person they loved was out risking their life's in the Waste.

Quinn leads the Latina back down to the only town she had been in since she left the vault. It all looked the same.

"Come on…" Quinn motions the girl towards a rundown house. It looked unsafe. "A lot of scavengers or wastelanders hide their supplies, or overflow in abandoned buildings… so check if you ever in need of supplies… that's how I got most of my stuff." Quinn says as she walks through the doorway of the run down building. She walks up to a chimney and kneels on the rubble. Santana watches as she uncovers a footlocker.

"What do you got there?" She asks. The blonde looks up at her friend then pops open the case. She pulls out a long weapon.

"Here this is for you… if you're any good at shooting that is." She hands Santana the gun.

"What is it?"

"A hunting rifle… it's not in very good shape but it should fire… it has more of a kick than that 9mm you carry around… and the range is better too."

Santana shoulders the weapon… she looks down its sights. It had more weight than her handgun, but any weapon that worked could come in handy.

"Thanks… but what about you, don't you need a weapon?" She slings the rifle. Quinn nods before pulling out a couple of weird looking tin boxes. "Okay… what are those?"

"These are bottle cap mines… well I guess there nail and shrapnel mines… I took out the bottle caps because it seemed like a waste of good caps. These should work just as well… if not better."

"But what do they do?" Santana asks eyeing the devises, she isn't sure what to make of them.

"Well… they explode… I plan on using them at the market to secure the doorway… you see… I can set a trip wire so if anyone comes in behind us… boom…"

"Um… wow… you invented these?"

"Well no, I found the schematics and built them… and well I tweaked them then built them… and then I also have this…" she pulls out a weird looking metal glove and her combat knife. Santana remembered seeing the knife the first time they met, but the glove looked weird. She picks it up and inspects it curiously. "It's called a power fist… I've never actually used it before but supposedly it's designed to magnify your punching power… I figure it could come in handy." Santana was impressed with all of the stuff Quinn had managed to get her hands on over the years. They had two guns with ammo, explosives, a knife, and a power fist… that had to be a start right? What surprised Santana more was when Quinn pulled out clothing that actually looked like armor. "Here… it isn't much… just a couple of Merc outfits and leather armor… I figure the leather would fit you better… I'll take the Merc outfit." They changed quickly in the abandoned run down house, then backed up their needed supplies and started towards the liked how her new clothes fit her better… they seemed to hug her body just right. It also felt like it was doing more than just clothing her. Even the wastelander Merc outfit looked badass. Quinn explained the difference between the two outfits, but as long as she was out of that stained beater she was happy.

"So how did you hear about this place?" Santana asks as they turned off the main road and started up a hill. Santana looked over her shoulder… she could no longer see Megaton.

"I read about it in the Wastelander's survival guide handbook."

"Wait… what?"

"It's a book it came out a while back… it talks about the store and where it is and what you might expect to find there." Quinn says.

"They wrote a survival guide to the waste?" Santana asks in shock.

"Yup… Mora did… I guess she got some guy to check it out… it was occupied by a lot of raiders, but it also said that there was medical and food supplies still inside."

"So what if we don't find supplies… what then?"

Quinn stops walking, she hadn't thought about it.

"Well I guess we'll have to kill our own food or trade with a wastelander."

"What about water?" Santana asks in a serious tone.

"The water shouldn't be a problem… as long as you boil it… they say the water is drinkable." This seems to satisfy Santana. They start walking towards what Santana hoped was the food market.

Meanwhile back at Megaton, Brittany, and Rachel slaved away… they packed up everything they thought was important, which was clothing, and some condensed can had happy shared all her juicy sex tips with Brittany, and was now questioning the girl on her experience with the brunette.

"Come on Brittany… you need to give me more details than that…" Rachel whined.

"What more do you want to know? I can't actually tell you what she tastes like… and that's like the only thing I haven't described." Brittany pouted too.

"Well… I guess you can leave out that detail…"

"It was perfect… she was perfect…"

"But you said you didn't cum?"

"No I didn't, but in the end I really didn't care. She just looked so good underneath me… ugh… just thinking about it makes me want her here more. Plus I don't think I ready for her to top me yet."

Rachel looks over to her friend who was currently packing some blankets and pillows into a bag, and noticed the sadness in Brittany's eyes.

"Why's that Britt? You love her right?" Brittany nods… it was a no brainier. "And she loves you too."

"Yea… but I guess I'm still… sometimes it's like… I'm dirty or like not good enough for her."

"What! Did she tell you that?" Rachel looks enraged.

"No… but I just feel like I am… I mean how could she want me after Artie?" Brittany trails off… she didn't know if she should continue or not… she felt like she needed to, she just wanted to get it out in the air and off her chest. She looks over at Rachel who was waiting to see if she was going to continue. "I never thought the way I lost my virginity would be how I actually lost my virginity. It was always Santana… even when we were growing up… she was the only one that cared… she was the only one I had." Brittany sniffs back some tears. "And I knew she was trying to protect me, but I couldn't figure out who she was trying to protect me from. At first it was just Puck and his gang, but then I guess somewhere along the way Artie must have started showing interest." Rachel moves over to her friend and wraps her arms around the blonde for comfort. "I tried to listen to her… that first day of work.. She told me not to be alone with him… and the second I was, he jumped me… and shot me up with drugs and rap-" Brittany was crying into Rachel's shoulder. She was glad she was able to talk about it to someone who wasn't Santana. Hopefully Rachel understood.

"Santana loves you, and you did nothing wrong. Everything that has happened to you Britt, someone forced you to do it. But what you have with Santana is real… it can't be forced or faked… so you shouldn't think that you're not right for her. You. Are. Perfect. And I know she sees that too." Rachel says.

"I know but… what if she's on me and I flash back to Artie… what if I can't handle it?"

"Then you tell her that silly… do you think she'll be mad because you won't let her pitch from on top… no… plus no one ever said you had to be on top to pitch." Rachel says with a wink.

* * *

><p>End… I can't write any more… I hope you enjoyed it… the next chapter will be the market+ bank vault… and maybe even a Rachel flashback story with her drug problem… then there adventure will begin in the Waste... Hopefully<p> 


	5. I Hurt Myself, To See if I Still Feel

Fallout

**Chapter 5: I Hurt Myself Today, To See If I Still Feel**

* * *

><p>"I thought you said this place wasn't far from Megaton, we've been walking for like hours now." Santana complained as they hiked up another hill, she was sweaty, hot and was about ready to say 'fuck this I quit'.<p>

They'd been walking for an hour now through the hilly wasteland.

Quinn wanted to avoid the main road as much as possible. Her thought processes were 'if they walked on the main road they run a higher chance of being ambushed', and Quinn wanted to avoid that at all cost. To do this they now had to forge across the unforgiving terrain of the wasteland, and Santana was getting tired from walking up hill after hill. Quinn on the other hand was feeling just fine, the dry heat didn't affect her like it was affecting Santana, who still hasn't acclimated to the Waste heat.

"Is it always this fucking hot? God damn…" Santana wiped the sweat off her forehead. 'This is getting ridiculous.'

"I'm sure we're almost there… we should at least be able to see the town when we reach the top of this hill." Quinn says.

Santana wanted to confront the word 'almost', if Quinn was lost she was going to be pissed. 'There better be a town on the other side of this hill or so help me…' "You better hope so… god damn, are you hot? I'm like dying back here."

Quinn chooses to ignore the complaint. "At least we haven't seen any creatures… or raiders for that matter." She says, as she tries to lighten the mood and to get Santana's mind focused on something other than the weather. Quinn was a little shocked. She thought they would have seen something by now. She stops to allow Santana to catch up. The hot sweaty Latina was finally able to catch her breath. She needed a rest, and took this opportunity to take a drink of her water. She offered some to Quinn as well who graciously accepts, and takes a sip of the purified water. Santana was also a little impressed by the fact they hadn't seen any living thing since they'd left Megaton. The way Quinn and Rachel spoke about the dangers of the Wasteland, you'd think creatures were lurking at every turn. Then again maybe they were just lucky they hadn't seen anything. "Hey, look at that." Quinn says, pulling Santana from her daze. Santana looks to where the blonde is pointing. Turns out they weren't as lucky as she had thought. No more than 200 meters in front of them something was moving around, but it was hard to make out what... She could just barely see what it was because it was that small.

"What is it?" She asks. She didn't know if she should be nervous or not, Quinn didn't seem overly concerned. 'Maybe because the creature hadn't seen them yet.'

"Looks like a bloatfly, nothing too dangerous." The bug seemed to zig zag all over the place. "Do you think you could hit it?" Quinn asks after a moment. She wanted to see if Santana could handle the hunting rifle and what better way than to actually shoot the weapon.

"That's a pretty small target from this distance…." She unslings the hunting rifle. "But I guess it's worth a try." She shoulders the rifle, bracing it against the leather armor. Looking down the sights Santana attempts to follow the erratic movements of the bloatfly. "Stupid thing won't stay still." She mutters. She then kneels to stabilize her shot, which helps. Quinn kneels beside her; she wants to try and keep track of the round in case Santana misses. Watching the target, Santana exhales then squeezes the trigger. The shot rings out.

"You missed." Quinn stated the obvious as the bloatfly continued to buzz around. "The shot went just to the right." The round did manage to catch the attention of the creature. The bloatfly was now zigzagging towards them.

"It's the sights, there off slightly." She loads another round into the chamber 'stupid manual bolt action rifle' she thinks as she lines up her sights on the creature who was slowly making its way towards them. This time she adjusts for the sights and leads her target more. Santana tries her best to track the erratic movements of the bug. She lets out her breath and squeezes the trigger.

This time Quinn sees the bloatfly explode, the round annihilated the simple creature.

"Damn… You got it!" Quinn yells with some excitement. "At least we know you can shoot." Santana is also pleased, it was pretty impressive considering she'd never shot this kind of weapon before. "Man did you see that thing explode… it poofed" she smiles at Santana.

"And now we know your weapon works… shit, it has a nasty kick though." She rubs her shoulder.

"It probably needs a new buffer spring… if we come across another hunting rifle we should try and salvage any usable parts, we could probably take that to Moira too, she might be able to repair it before we leave." With one successful encounter with a wasteland beast under their belt the two girls start walking again, they are finally reaching the top of the hill only to be met with another, Santana was about to bitch out the blonde for getting her hopes up when she noticed a building on the next ridge.

"Is that it?" Santana looks a little worried since the building on the next ridge looked like it was falling apart. Quinn squints at the desolate looking structure, she's never ventured out this far in the waste, but from where they were standing she could say that building wasn't the supermarket. Granted she's never seen one, but from what she read in the survival guide the building was supposed to be huge. The building on the next ridge looked like a bigger version of their shag shack, so she was going to take a wild guess and say it wasn't what they were looking for.

"No… it looks like an old barn. There's probably an old farm or something up ahead." Quinn starts down the hill and starts towards the abandoned farm, Santana follows right behind her.

'Maybe we can scavenge something from the rubble.' The blonde thinks as they serpentine down the embankment.

Meanwhile back at Megaton, the two girls who were left behind were finally done packing the essentials they thought they would need to survive the wasteland. Brittany had pretty much won every argument on whether they needed to bring something or leave it, including one about a book on duckacorns, a book in which Rachel so happened to loan Brittany one day. Brittany had fallen in love with the mystical creature and insisted on bringing the book with them when they left.

"I still think we won't need that damn book Britt… duckacorns aren't real." Rachel says as she lies on the cot in Quinn's room.

Brittany is doing the same but on the bed. She was also reading the book about the mystical duck with a horn.

"Says who?" Brittany pouts as she flips the page in the book.

"Says me… how can a duck have a horn? It's not possible."

"How can a cow have two heads… or… or a um mole rat real… I mean come on, their half mole half rat, so it isn't impossible for a duckacorn to be real." Brittany argued, and with that Rachel had pretty much given up with trying to change the blonde's mind, and didn't want to fight over something as weird as a duck with a horn. So she would let the blonde bring the silly book.

'Hell maybe we can use it to start a fire or something' Rachel thought to herself knowing is she'd said it out loud Brittany would give her that damn irresistible pout. Brittany smiled again as she won another round against the diva. Rachel was finding out the hard way every time she tried to resist those damn blue eyes that seemed to tear up when Brittany wanted something. 'Poor Santana won't stand a chance in the future when it came to Brittany getting her way' Rachel sighs, she was used to getting her way with her blonde, but for some reason her pout was no match for Brittany's. 'She could probably get away with murder with that pout.' Rachel thought as she rolled over to stare at the blonde. That's when Rachel notices Brittany's smile fade, and replaced by a frown. "What's wrong Britt?" Brittany shuts the book and sits up. "Hey are you okay? You're not feeling sick are you, should I go get the doc?" She gets up, and sits next to Brittany on the bed. Brittany shakes her head no.

"No, I'm fine... It's just they've been gone for a while now, and I'm just worried. I mean what if something happened, we'd never know." Rachel tries to reassure the blonde, she places her hand on Brittany's and gives it a squeeze.

"They're fine… trust me, if something happened I would know… you would know." She says, Brittany sniffs back some tears, she doesn't really believe Rachel.

"But how?

"It's just… it's like a feeling, like you would feel it in your chest, and you wouldn't be able to shake it, because love connects people like that. So trust me they're fine." Brittany tries to understand, and lets her sob subside.

"Do you think Santana had that feeling the day Artie…" she cuts off.

"I'm sure she did… I mean you said she broke into the security wing and saved you. If she didn't have the feeling she might not have been so worried about you, and gone home after work… and things could have been worse, right."

Brittany nods, she hadn't thought about what would have happened if Santana hadn't been right outside the security wing when she texted her. What if the text she sent hadn't reached Santana. What if Artie had more time with her, or that security guard hadn't tried to escort Santana away. Things could have been a lot worse. 'What ifs' were always dangerous, and Brittany couldn't help but shudder at the thoughts that now plagued her mind, this doesn't go unnoticed by Rachel. Rachel imminently regrets the subject of Artie… 'Probably wasn't a great idea to bring him up,' she was sure the haunting experience was eating away at the blonde. Brittany couldn't help but think about all those times Santana was there for her when they lived in the vault. She didn't have any other family besides Amata, but Santana was always there for her. After another long silence Brittany smiles again. The thoughts of all the happy times Santana and her were together successfully pulled her out of her funk. She looks at Rachel who must also be having an internal debate of her own, because she looks so deep in thought.

"How did you and Quinn meet?" Brittany asks almost in a hushed tone. Rachel thinks about the question for a while, she didn't know if she should tell Brittany about her past, because it wasn't the happiest of memories. Moreover, she really didn't want to upset Brittany with her own demons. Brittany notices the confliction Rachel was having about the question. 'Maybe she doesn't trust me enough.' "You don't have to tell me… If… I mean I know life is different out here so if you don't want to talk about it its fine."

Rachel still hesitates. "It's not that I don't want to tell you… it's just in order to tell you about Quinn, I'd have to talk about some things in my past that aren't good. Things I'm not proud of." Rachel says after a moment of internal debate. Brittany interlaces her hand with the Diva's, and gives it a gentle squeeze. Rachel looks up from the hand.

"I know that you might be afraid of talking about your past but what happens in the past doesn't define who you are in the present." Brittany says with all seriousness, the statement caught Rachel off guard, but it made sense, she wasn't her past... She was who she chose to be.

"Well, I guess I should start by telling you about my childhood, I was born in Big Town, I really don't remember my mom. I just remember she sold me when I was five, she sold me to a couple of men instead of taking me to Little Lamplight like she was supposed to. You see Big Town, sends all their kids there to live, it keeps their kids safe from the dangers of the waste until they're older. Then they can go back to Big Town." She takes a breath before continuing, "Anyway the men who bought me took me to a town called Arefu, which is a town that's on top of this bridge. I just remember the men that bought me as my dad's. They were so nice to me, and I was happy. I loved them." Again she pauses. "I was 13 when everything changed. Our town was being attacked, and people started dying. At first it was just raiders… and we held our own against them for the most part, then the Slavers started attacking us… they were able to trap a lot of our guards, which weakened the town greatly. Then finally one day we were attacked by this horde of super mutants… It was a massacre. I remember my dad's being killed trying to protect me, they died pretty much right in front of me. I escaped by jumping off the end of the bridge… I fell into the river below, and washed downstream. It turns out I can't swim. Somehow I managed to wash up on shore before drowning… I ended up wandering the waste after that. It's kind of blurry, but I remember walking around aimlessly praying I would survive or at least die quickly instead of starving to death. I had no weapon or food so I pretty much gave up… then one day some travelling merchants found me sleeping in an old trailer. They took pity and fed me, and agreed to take me to the next town. That town just happened to be Megaton. I spent the first year here sleeping in the common house, I didn't have a job or clothing, it's weird I guess I couldn't really tell you how I survived. Then one day I met Moriarty. I was going through his Dumpster out back when he caught me."

_Flashback_

_"Hey what the fuck do you think you're doing back here you little shit?" The man grabs Rachel before she can escape. Rachel struggles to get away. She'd heard about the man who ran the saloon, and from what the town folk said about him, she knew he was a bad man._

_"Please sir… I'm sorry…" she still struggles in the man's grasp, but no matter how hard she tried to get away Moriarty didn't let go. _

_Rachel finally stops when she realizes he wasn't going to let her go._

_"What's your name Baby Doll?" He asks as e eyes her up. _

_"It's Rachel… my names Rachel."_

_"Ah, Rachel and what is a young thing like you digging through my garbage."_

_"I-I was just trying to find s-something to eat." She says quietly._

_"And you thought this was the best place huh?" The man yanks her wrist Rachel half expected him to slap her._

_"I'm sorry sir, it won't happen again… please I promise." She tries again to break free from the man's tight grasp._

_"Tell me, Rachel was it? Are you looking for a place to stay?" _

_Rachel looks at the man, who finally let go of her. Making Rachel fall to the ground._

_"No, sir I'm staying in the common house… I don't have caps to rent a room here." The rent around town was way too much, and she couldn't even afford to buy food, let alone rent a room._

_"Really, what if I offered a place to stay, and a job…" _

_Rachel doesn't know what to say, she thought most people in town didn't need help with their business, and was a little shocked that this man was offering her one. It seemed too good to be true._

_"What w-would I have to do?" She asks hesitantly._

_"Well I'm short staffed at the moment, I need someone who can take orders, wash dishes, and mix drinks. Things like that. Do you think you could handle a simple task like that?" He says with a grin. _

_Everything was telling her to say no… to run and never look back but instead she shook the man's hand, and sealed her fate._

Present

"I was 14 at the time, and the thought of having my own room again was amazing, but I didn't know what I was getting myself into." Rachel says. Brittany was shocked she knew Rachel past was hard but she didn't know it was that hard.

"So what happened next…? I mean he didn't like make you sleep with someone when you were that young did he?"

"No… when I started working there it was just like he'd promised, I just helped with the odds and ends of stuff. At the time he had one girl working for him, her name was Nova. I got her old room and she took a better rentable room. I guess Nova and I became close, she was like another mother to me or something. It was about a year later that Moriarty asked me to take my first client."

_Flashback_

_"Rachel! Take these orders to table six." The old man thrusts the tray of drinks into her hands. She walks over to the table that was currently being occupied by a group of mercenaries._

_"Hey there hot stuff." One of the guys slaps her on the ass. It was something she'd gotten used to considering most of the people that came to this saloon were a complete sleaze. She didn't acknowledge them, but instead placed their drinks on their table and left just as quickly._

_"Hey Gob… do you need any help?" She asks when she gets back to the bar. Gob was mixing drinks for another customer._

_"Uh… not at the moment… but you better find something to do before Moriarty gets back in."_ _Rachel knew that Moriarty had a temper, and it usually showed itself when people weren't doing their jobs. So she goes into the back room to stock the food shelves. She wasn't back there for more than 10 minutes when she hears a gunshot go off right outside the back exit of the saloon. She drops a can on the floor, it rolls right to the door, and just as she was about to pick it up the door opens. This door was only used by Moriarty, because he was the only one who had a key, and sure enough it was Moriarty who walked in holding his .44 revolver at his side. The man is covered in spray back, which meant whoever he shot was standing very close to him._

_"What the Fuck are you doing back here!" The angry man yells, Rachel instantly flinches away. Then quickly picks up the can and places it on the shelf._

_"I-I was finishing restocking and taking inventory for you sir…" she didn't want to anger him anymore than he already was._

_The man watches her for a moment before he holsters his gun and goes into his room to wash up. Rachel is just relieved she didn't get hit or shot for that matter. The man was abusive to his workers, but mostly he hit Nova or Gob, but then every once and awhile those two would be out or something she would take their place. It didn't happen often, but she still didn't want to provoke the man._

_"I need you to fill in for Nova tonight." Moriarty says when he walks into the room again. _

_Rachel is confused. She knew what Nova did in the saloon._

_"But… I" the man turns on her so fast, backhanding her in the process._

_"What was that!" The man yells at Rachel daring her to back talk him is now holding her stinging cheek. "You will fill in for Nova, or you will join her in the Dumpster outside, do you understand?" Rachel nods. "Good… now she has a client in her room and you will do whatever the client asks, otherwise you will be getting more than just a slap, you got it?" Moriarty heads towards the front of the Saloon leaving Rachel frozen in her tracks. She couldn't get over the fact that Moriarty basically told her Nova was dead, and was out in the Dumpster. She wanted to run outside, she wanted to hold her best friend, and cry but she knew she couldn't, instead she was expected to take over Nova's job. After she collected herself she walked out of the stock room. Her feet moved on their own towards the stairs, and before she knew it she was standing right outside Nova's room. Her hand is on the doorknob, she wills it to not turn, but it does. She walks into the room of her only friend in Megaton, and notices the client sitting in a chair. Rachel recognizes him as one of Nova's regulars. The man looks confused. He was expecting Nova not the current girl in front of him._

_"You're not Nova?" He states the obvious. _

_Rachel doesn't know how to respond._

_"U-um… she… I'm…" she can't even form words. The man gets up from the chair and walks towards her. There was a reason she remembered this client, he was always shooting up in the bar. Then he would go into Nova's room, and when they came out Nova was always high too. The guy liked to get other people high. That was his kink. "Moriarty sent me." She says when the guy walks into her personal space._

_"Nova's not here?" He again states the obvious. _

_Rachel looks down at her shoes._

_"I'm supposed to take her spot." She whispers. The room is quiet again, she didn't know if maybe she was supposed to do something or what, so she just stands there and waits for the man to next thing she knew she was on the bed, the man had taken off her top and was hovering above her. He didn't kiss, or touch her bare skin, but instead grabbed hold of her a skirt and pulls it off. Rachel covers herself or attempts to, she wasn't completely naked, but she still didn't feel comfortable in just her underwear. What happens next isn't exactly what she was expecting, she thought for sure the guy was going to touch her, but instead she feels something being tied around her bicep. She opens her eyes that were closed the moment the guy tossed her on the bed and looks to see what he was doing. The guy just finished tying a band around her, and then she notices the syringe in his hand. Everything in her body was saying run… but she knew that if she ran she would be shot and thrown in a Dumpster alongside her dead friend. She didn't want to die… so she would do this if it meant she would live._

_"Hey don't be so nervous… in a moment you won't even remember why you were nervous. Just relax." The man says as he taps her forearm to find a vein._

_"What is that… I mean…" the guy looks at her concerned face._

_"Psycho." She didn't need to ask any more questions, she was aware of the drug already, mostly because it was the go to drug of any user in DC. She gasps when she feels the needle enter her arm. She tries to focus on something other than the pain. The man releases the band and places the syringe on the night stand next to the bed, he watches the girl as the drug slowly takes over her didn't know what was going on, the feelings were all mixing together, but slowly she felt as though her soul had left her body… then she didn't feel anything… she was numb and for the first time she didn't care. She didn't care that the man you just injected her with a needle was now touching her, because she was no longer herself._

Present

"After that my life became that drug. I started using it every time I had a client to forget about what I was doing." Brittany was in tears. "Then the day I met Quinn… it was the worst yet best day of my life." She smiles at the memory, sniffing back her own tears in the process. "I'd been using for a while, I guess I couldn't really tell you how long since I couldn't keep my dates straight… but I know I couldn't live without it. I was constantly craving a fix, and I usually got restocked by the man who shot me up the first time. For some reason he stopped coming. I found out later it was because he was poisoned by giant scorpions, evidently he was too high to know that they were real. Anyways, I was hitting that stage where you feel like shit, and I knew if I didn't get a fix I was going to start feeling again so I decided to see if I could score some from a resident in town. There was only one person I knew that used, his name was Leo Stahl, I just didn't know where to find him. So I just started wandering around town. I remember walking along the slope next to the water treatment plant and then I slipped. I ended up rolling down that damn embankment. I must have hit my head, because I passed out. Then the next thing I knew…"

_Flashback_

_"Hey… hey" a blonde girl shakes the unconscious brunette. She'd just watched the girl tumble from the top of the embankment. She'd never seen the girl before. "Come on… wake up." She coos softly as she cradles the unconscious girl in her arms. Slowly Rachel's eyes open… she couldn't remember what just happened, but when her eyes focus she's met with the two of the brightest most breathtaking hazel eyes she's ever seen._

_"Wha-" Rachel groans as the pain from her fall hits her body full force._

_"Hey try not to move… you just fell from the top of the town to the bottom." The blonde says, Rachel notices the concern in the girls face. "Do you think you broke something?" The girl asks._

_"N-noo I think I'm fine… just a little sore." She tries to sit up, and the girl helps her._

_"That was quite a fall… are you sure you're not hurt… I can carry you to the clinic."_

_"I don't think… I should be fine." Rachel notices the girl is still holding onto her._

_"So, do you want to try and stand?" The girl asks after a long awkward silence. Rachel nods._

_"I think that would be best." She goes to stand up._

_"Here let me help you." The blonde grabs a hold of the brunette's hand , and helps the girl to her feet. Rachel is still a little shaky from the fall, and the drugs. "There… are you sure you don't want to go to the doctors… if you don't have the caps I'd gladly help pay…"_

_"I don't need your help!" Rachel snaps. Quinn realizes she might have said something to offend the girl, and backs off a step._

_"I'm sorry I didn't mean to… I was just offering." The girl says in a low voice. That's when Rachel realizes the girl had been generally concerned about her health, and didn't want anything more than to make sure she was okay. Rachel felt like an ass. "I guess I'll just…" the blonde goes to leave but Rachel quickly grabs her arm and stops her._

_"Wait…" the girl stops and looks at the brunette who was covered in bruises, some that couldn't have been caused by the fall. "I'm sorry… that was rude of me, especially since you were just trying to help. Please don't go." And she meant it… from the moment she saw the girl's eyes something had clicked inside her, and it was the first time she didn't feel like she needed to get high. "My names Rachel." She extends her hand._

_"Quinn… it's nice to meet you Rachel." The blonde gives her a warm smile as she shakes the girl's hand. Rachel eagerly returns the smile. "So are you from around here or… I mean I've never seen you around town, are you just passing through?"_ _Rachel hesitates. She doesn't really want to talk about where she lives since it will pretty much label her as a whore. That was the only reason Moriarty hired girls to work in the Saloon… or at least that was what everyone around town said._

_"I'm… I live in the Saloon." She stutters and waits to watch the girl's reaction. She surprised the girl doesn't recoil in disgust, but instead gives her more of a questioning look._

_"The Saloon, you mean the one up by the trading post?" Rachel nods and again waits to see how the girl will react to her, but again Quinn doesn't show any signs of abhorrent distaste. So wasn't the reaction she was expecting. "I've never been up there I guess… I live over in the Children of Atom house… you know the one with the crazy people who worship that bomb." Rachel smiles then nods._

_"You don't look like a cult member?" She says with a hint of humor, most of the people in the Church were older and way crazier than the blonde._

_"I'm not… but my dad is, we just moved in a couple months ago." The small banter went on for hours, it was the first time in a long time Rachel didn't want to forget._

Present

"After that we just sort of grew together… she helped me with my drug problem, and we fell in love… the rest you know is history… but she saved me, just like Santana did for you. She gave me my life back." Brittany was practically crying her eyes out, the story was just a little too much for her and her emotions right now. She then jumps the diva and hugs her as tightly as possible. Rachel lets out a small laugh… her story indeed didn't start off happy, but if she'd never met Quinn she had no doubt in her mind she would have been dead by now. Quinn saved her from destroying herself and she could never repay her for that. Brittany then refused to let the diva out of her hug… this of course made Rachel laugh again.

"So… were you Quinn's first?" Brittany asks after a moment while Rachel was still in her embrace.

"Yup… she's a gold star…"

"AW! That's sooo cute…." The room again is plunged into laughter and silly banter between the two as they try to keep themselves busy until their girls come home.

Out in the waste

"Ug… that's it Quinn I'm done…" she huffs as they make their way up the embankment, this hill was worse than all the others, it was steeper and cluttered with boulders. They were so close to the top of the hill it wasn't fair, Quinn had confirmed the place in front of them was indeed a farm. The old grain silo was a solid giveaway in her book.

"Huh, I never pictured you as such a wuss." Quinn says from ahead of her. They just came to the crest of the hill.

"I'm not a wuss… it's just I think I'd prefer being ambushed on the road instead of climbing this damn mountain."

"Calm down, we're almost there, I can feel it. Once we get through this farm we should be able to see the town." The blonde stops and lets the Latina catch up again.

"Well you better hope so otherwise I'll bury your sorry ass in that corn field over there." Quinn was about to reply when she hears a zing, then sees a ricochet hit right in front of the brunette. Santana hadn't noticed, she was shocked when Quinn tackled her, bringing her to the ground with a thud."What the hell!" She yells at the blonde who is still on top of her. She was about to push the blonde off her.

"Stay down…" the blonde rasps.

"Why…" then she hears it… the sound of a gun going off followed by another round impacting the rocks they were currently taking cover behind. Now Santana was grateful or the large boulders… they do a fantastic job at stopping bullets. That's when she finally grasps that they were being shot at. "Shit… did you see where the first round came from?" She asks Quinn who moves off of the brunette.

"No, I just saw the round ricochet in front of your lucky tan ass."

"Very funny… well, where ever the shots are coming from, the person has definitely seen us." Santana states the obvious. This was the first time she'd ever been shot at… and she was feeling a little anxious. Quinn was also a little wide eyed, this is what she wanted to avoid. "Okay… okay, we need to see where he's at. Quinn here," she tosses Quinn her 9mm. Quinn looks at her with some confusion, and was about to ask why she needed a short range weapon. "I want you to distract him… on the count of three start shooting rounds towards the farm… that should draw his attention. Then hopefully I can get a shot off." The blonde still looks a little overwhelmed but nods in agreement. Quinn moves to the left side of the boulder and waits for Santana to give her the signal. Santana unslings the hunting rifle, she checks to make sure there's a round in the chamber before she looks over to her counterpart who does the same."Okay ready… one… two… three!" And on three Quinn starts shooting, she fires several rounds at the not so abandoned farm trying to draw the attention of the sniper. Santana peeks around with her rifle, she is scanning for any movement, or barrel flashes from the sniper. She doesn't see him until another shot goes off… this time it was aimed at Quinn. Who immediately ducks behind the rock again.

"Shit… did you see it?" She yells to Santana who is back behind cover again, she didn't take the shot but she knew where the mother fucker was now.

"Yeah... He's kneeling on top of the silo… I think I can get him… I need you to draw his attention again but this time focus on the silo's roof okay." Quinn nods, "okay… one… two… three!" Again Quinn lays down covering fire; Santana quickly sights her target, the man is kneeling on the silo's scaffolding. "There you are…" she squeezes off a round… the bullet hit the sniper spattering him against the silo. "Got you." Quinn had been just as happy, even though it was the first time she'd been in a gun fight she knew it was going to happen at some point. At least the situation was over and nobody got hurt.

'Well almost nobody.'"Nice shot… at least you didn't miss." She lets out her breath. "Here," she hands back the handgun. She wasn't very comfortable holding onto it longer than necessary.

"Well good covering fire… we make a badass team." Quinn smirks. Then Quinn sees something that makes her react faster than she thought possible. A raider was standing behind Santana, the man had snuck up behind them, and they hadn't noticed. The man is holding a crowbar and was about to swing at the Latinas head, but before Santana even realizes it Quinn grabs a hold of the brunette and pulls her forward. She lands on her stomach, just as the crowbar hits the rock instead.

"Hold still mother fucker. It's time to die!" The raider yells as he's about to swing again. Santana was still recovering from being pulled forward un-expectantly. She rolls over to see what made the blonde react so quickly. The raider is now focusing on the blonde, he swings to hit her, but Quinn blocks the blow of the crowbar with her power fist, and with her other hand she pulls out her knife. With a swift motion the blade cuts through the raider's forearm. "AH!" The raider yells in pain and drops the crowbar, Quinn's blade leaves a slight blood trail. She was about to hit the man with her power fist when the raider's chest is impacted with two rounds. Santana's 9mm smokes, her adrenaline was through the roof. Quinn watches the man fall backwards, he's dead before he hits the ground. Now the two girls were left standing in the eerie silence, their ears ringing from the gunshots, both were trying to process what just happened. Santana lets out a jagged breath.

"Are you okay?" Santana asks the blonde who was staring at the dead body lying in front of them. Quinn's blade is dripping with the raider's blood. "Quinn?" Santana was starting to worry.

"Yeah… I'm fine… wow that was intense."

"You don't say, I was almost crowbar bait… if you hadn't… shit that was fucken close." Santana reloads her 9mm, as Quinn sheaths her knife again after she whips the blade.

"We should check his pockets… he might have something useful." Santana silently agrees and then helps the blonde search the raider's pockets. This guy didn't have very much on him, just a couple of caps, and some dried dog meat. "Well that was not worth the two bullets." Quinn muttered. "Come on, we should get moving, were losing daylight." They walk up the last little bit of the hill, quickly looking for anything useful on the other raider, but finding nothing useful other than a couple rounds. Santana also scavenged the buffer spring from his rifle that was slightly in better condition. They were both relieved when they saw a large building at the bottom of the hill. Quinn was positive it was the Super Market."Come on lets go. We're almost there." They're able to traverse this hill a lot easier than the last one while maintaining their alertness to the surroundings. Quinn was convinced that if there were raiders this close to the market they would more than likely be in the building.

"Too bad there isn't a back door on this building." Santana says as they walk up to the building before making their way along the side of the building. They were expecting some sort of guards outside the building, but the entrance was bare. They sneak along the front and go into the first door as quickly and quietly as possible. Inside they were met with an eerie was so quiet, too quiet to be comfortable. What made it worse was the supermarket was poorly lit. The only light in the entry was coming from a Nuka Cola vending machine. The two girls are waiting, straining their ears to hear some sort of movement in the building, but all they could hear was the gentle hum of the vending machine.

"Do you see anything?" Quinn whispers to Santana who was currently next to the entry wall kneeling and trying to scan the grocery store… her 9mm was out, and at the ready.

"No, it looks clear…" she whispers back, this was definitely unexpected. If there weren't any signs of raiders nearby then there might not be food left in this location. Santana makes a decision and switches on her pipboy flash light… "Okay… let's check this place out then get the fuck out of here." Santana says as she slowly walks into the main part of the building, Quinn follows behind her.

"Hey wait a second." Quinn stops and pulls out one of her homemade lunchbox mines.

"What are you going to do with that?" Santana watches as the girl strings a wire just above the floor line. She attaches the other end to a pipe sticking out of the wall.

"It's a trip wire… that way if someone comes in behind us hopefully this baby takes out a few and will give us a warning too." Quinn says as she sets the charge. "Just don't forget it's here… okay. Come on let's go this way… I saw another entrance." Quinn turns right into the store and makes her way along the front of the store. She then places the second charge at the alternate entry. Now they had some form of security watching their back. It gave them a sense of security,.

"So how do you think we should do this?" Santana asks. She watches Quinn pick up a plastic bag from the floor, she hands it to Santana.

"Let's check the shelves for any useable canned foods then check the back storage rooms. We're looking for anything you think will be usable so fill the bag." They walk into the stacks of shelves, the store was littered with old cans, but for the most part they were all empty, or half eaten. They managed to find a couple boxes of instant mash but everything else was useless.

"Hey let's try back here." Santana calls to Quinn. She sees a counter top that leads into a side room. She slides across the counter and into the room. This place actually had light and the first things she noticed was the medical kit attached to the wall. She walks over and opens the kit… "Score." She pulls out some supplies and puts it in her bag, and then she notices the fridge in the back of the room. 'Maybe this trip wasn't going to be a complete waste of time.' She opens the fridge, and finds it well stocked. She quickly scrapes the food into the plastic bag, leaving the fridge completely empty.

Quinn walks up behind her."Nice… at least we found something… let's check the other side, and then get the hell out of here." Quinn says and they make their way over to the other side of the store to check the back rooms. "You go left… I'll go right." They split up. Santana walks into her room and the first thing she sees is a dismembered body lying on a mattress, she tries not to gag at the smell of the rotting corpse. She then notices another side room, but when she attempts to open it she finds it locked.

"Well, what are you trying to hide?" She mutters to the door. She then pulls out one of her bobby pins from her hair and attempts to pick the lock. This wasn't one of her strong suits… she was better with computers than actual locks.

"Santana! We need to go…" Quinn runs into the room.

"Why what did you find?"

"There are like 12 beds in that next room, and I really don't want to be here when they come home." She says just as Santana turns the lock on the door.

"Ha… okay just a Sec, I bet this place is crawling with supplies." She says as she opens the unlocked door. Quinn follows Santana into the room, they definitely hit the jackpot… the shelves were stocked with food, Santana even noticed some medical supplies laying out, but what really caught their attention were the weapons lying on the back counter.

"Holy shit." Quinn moves forward and picks up several Frag grenades. "Sweet… wow they have frag mines too…" she wished she had more room for the stuff.

"Grab some food. I'll go through the ammo boxes.…" Santana raids the boxes then notices a container sitting in the corner. "What do we got here?" She makes her way towards it and is shocked by what's inside. Quinn walks up behind her, her bags are now full of food. "What is it?" She asks the blonde.

"It's a Protectron… it's like the robot we have in Megaton… but this one seems inactive."

"How do you think it works?" She then sees a computer next to the machine.

"Come on we don't have time for this, we should go before the raiders come back."

"Just a Sec…" she boots up the computer.

'Access denied.' The screen flashes at her.

"Huh… let's try…" she types something in the data log screen, the screen then fills with a bunch of codes. "So it's a scrambled code… with five characters… let's try." She types in a code but the screen flashes the denied page again. "Huh… maybe this…" she tries again but only three characters show up in the data log box.

"Santana!" Quinn was about to yell at the brunette but a loud explosion interrupts her. Both Quinn and Santana freeze. That was one of their trips, and from the sound of it… they just got company. "Shit…" Quinn runs to the door and flips off the lights. She then slowly opens the door to peer out into the store. She sees nails scattered around the room along with some body parts. Then she notices movement at the other door. Raiders, they must have noticed the trip, because they didn't set off the second wire. Quinn can make out at least four of the raiders, who were now eagerly hunting them down."Shit… shit…" she closes the door. Santana looks worried.

"How many?" She asks.

"Four, maybe more I couldn't tell… they were scattered around the room. We need to get out of here before they find us." She says in a hushed tone.

"Fuck… okay we just need a distraction, then we can sneak past them unnoticed." Santana turns back to the computer screen.

"I don't think the computer is going to help in this situation Santana… we need to move before they find us back here." Quinn says with some urgency.

"Just give me a second… I have an idea," she types on the computer again… looking through the codes like her life depended on it. "Okay… I think I got it." She types in another password and this time the screen shuffles to life, the main screen opens. "Here… look programing Protectron." She skims the log sheet then notices the activation key for the robot. "Here put this on." She handed an ID badge to Quinn.

"What's this for?"

"This model has a Protection of employee's policy, so when it's activated it can protect the store, the ID badge is so it thinks you work for the store and you don't get shot. Anything without a badge won't be so lucky." She hits the activation key on the computer. "He should give us some time to sneak past those goons unnoticed." She clips on her badge just as the containment unit comes to life. The robot starts up.

"Greetings fellow employees." The robot says as it exits the pod. It already scanned the badges and determined the two weren't a threat.

"That is so cool."

"Protectron security procedures activated… begin security scan." The robot walks towards the door, it swings the door open, and walks into the main part of the store. The machine wasn't stealthy that was apparent, but the noise should distract the raiders long enough for them to make a clean getaway.

The girl's grab their supplies and follow the machine out, they try to blend into the wall.

"Warning… unauthorized personnel, initiate defense procedures." The robot open firers on the raiders. Lasers flash in every direction. That's when all hell broke loose in the room. The girls then quickly slipped past the robot and heads towards the door. They really didn't want to wait around and see who the victor would be. Quinn leads Santana towards the door where the lunchbox mine went off… that way they didn't have to worry about setting off the other trip wire. They slipped out unnoticed by the raiders and quickly started to head back towards Megaton with their food in hand. This time they took the main road, they needed to make up for lost time, and this was the only way. Hopefully they would get back to Megaton before it got too dark, because the sun was already getting low on the horizon.

* * *

><p>End… for now<p>

That's it my fingers can't type anymore, and my brain is all mushy... Go ahead and review, tell me what you liked, hated, and anything you want to see in the next chapter. The next chapter should be the last time they're in megaton… hopefully, I can only procrastinate for so long, but I feel like drawing this out... Sorry about all the spelling errors...


	6. A Darker Side of Humanity

Disclaimer: I don't own glee or its characters

Author's notes: this chapter is kind of dark again… I really don't know how it happened but it did. There is a lot of Faberry in this one but only because I feel like Santana and Brittany could use a break… anyway enjoy.

Fallout

**Chapter 6: A Darker Side of Humanity**

* * *

><p>Santana had never felt so out of shape in her life, her boots seemed to weigh a hundred pounds as she ran to keep up with Quinn's pace. They hadn't stopped running since they left the Super Market. The girls wanted to put as much distance between that place, and them as possible. They just hoped the robot had distracted the raiders long enough for them to get away and not worry about being caught before reaching Megaton.<p>

"I-I think… I think we… we're safe." Quinn says as she slows down her jog, making sure Santana was still behind her. Santana slows down too. She really needed to catch her breath, and was already clenching her sides as she attempted to slow her heart rate. "Are you okay?" Quinn asks as she takes a drink of purified water before handing the bottle over to the out of breath Latina. Santana takes a long swig of the water then nods before handing the bottle back to Quinn.

"I'm fine… just… you know, not used to… the heat… and running." She says as she straightens back up to open her airway. 'At least we aren't climbing those damn hills.' That's when Santana feels the blisters on her heels that were currently forming from her boots rubbing her as she was running. 'Damn… fucking boots.' She winces as she tries to push past the subtle pain, not wanting to make a big deal about it. She jogs back up next to Quinn who is walking like her life depended on it. "Do you think this way will be faster than the route through the hills?" She asks, trying to get her mind off the slight throb in her boots.

"God I hope so… we lost so much time getting to the grocery store, because of those damn raiders. I was really hoping to be back by now. Good thinking by the way… with that robot," Quinn says. She was just happy they got out of there without having to fight. The robot had been just enough of a distraction for them to sneak out unnoticed.

"Yeah… I don't think we would have gotten out unscathed without it… that and the nail mine, which was just as amazing considering it not only gave us a warning but also took out a few of those bastards too. Your invention was just… it was great." Santana exclaims.

"Yeah it was pretty cool… I'm just sad we had to leave the other one… and it didn't even explode." Santana watches Quinn's face frown a little, which not only made her think this girl was amazing but slightly morbid too. She couldn't help but laugh. "Hey what's so funny?" Quinn smacks her arm lightly.

"Nothing… it's just your pout kind of reminds me of Brittany's… only she's never been sad about not seeing an explosion go off." Quinn smiles slightly.

"Well Brittany hasn't built a bomb with her bare hands then… it's only natural to want to see your inventions work properly. That way you can make them better in the future." She says with all seriousness. "Now that I know they actually work I can improve them… maybe add more nails with a bigger charge… or a remote detonator, so if the trip doesn't work you can set them off automatically."

"Wow… you're really an explosives nut aren't you?" Again Quinn looks sad.

"It's not my fault I was raised in a place that worships a freaking atomic bomb… which I disarmed when I was fifteen. Anyway, you tend to pick up on explosives when that's all they ever talk about… hey look its Springville." Quinn says, effectively changing the conversation as they round the bend in the road, and sure enough just in front of them they could make out a town. Santana noticed Megaton was just towards the left of the city, they had made it back unharmed. "Come on… I want to get this stuff stashed before we head up to Megaton." Quinn says as she adjusts the bags of food in her hands.

They pick up their pace again and start towards the town.

"Wait… did you say you disarmed that bomb in town? Santana calls after her.

Meanwhile in Megaton

"Brittany you have to let go of me… I have to use the bathroom." Rachel whines, the blonde still hadn't let her go, it had been hours since Brittany effectively attached herself to the diva, hugging her and refusing to let go until Quinn and Santana got back.

"Nope… you already tried that one remember… then I had to tackle you because you lied… it's not going to work again." She gave the girl another squeeze

"Britt!" Rachel couldn't help but laugh out as the blonde continued to hug her. "I promise I really do have to use the bathroom… you don't want me to pee on you, do you?" Brittany's nose scrunched.

"No… fine, but no funny business." She lets go of the diva who springs up from the bed. Brittany watches as the girl vaults over the cot, putting a very big space in-between the two of them.

Rachel laughs. "Ha… got ya." She gleams as Brittany pouts.

"Aw… no fare… you're so sneaky." She gets up and tries to catch the brunette in another hug.

"Nope… can't catch me!" Rachel laughs as she dodges the tall blonde's arms. It wasn't much but the two were having fun while waiting for the girls to get back from the Super Market.

"That's it… I'm so telling Quinn when she gets back that you didn't let me hug you."

"Quinn would just get jealous that I let you hug me for as long as you did." She smirks.

"She would not… I'd let her hug Santana if she really wanted to." Brittany exclaims as she finally catches the brunette in her arms and holds her. Rachel can't help but laugh as the blonde hugs her yet again.

"Are you sure… Santana might get jealous too… she's a little over protective when it comes to you."

"Fine you win…" she lets go of the brunette again "I just wish they would get back soon… they've been gone for so long, and I miss Santana." She pouts as she sits back down on her bed. Rachel sits down next to her.

"They'll be here soon, you'll see. I'm sure they just found so much food that it's taking them longer to bring it back here. But just think by this time tomorrow we'll be out in the wastes, living life free from rules." Rachel says. She watches the blondes face twist with excitement. Sure the Wastes were going to be difficult, but they wouldn't have to worry about following the rules in Megaton anymore.

"I'm so excited… then you and Quinn can be together like me and Santana are… and you won't have to worry about being caught by Quinn's-" the door to Quinn's room flies open. "Dad…" she finishes in shock. Brittany's and Rachel's eyes widen as the man was now standing in the doorway. He looked so angry. His eyes flashed from Rachel to Brittany then back to Rachel.

"You!" Rachel stands as the older man flings the cot out of the way. He then grabs hold of Rachel by the shirt. "He said you were here, I didn't want to believe him, but looks like he was right." The older man seethes in Rachel's face.

"Please…" Rachel attempts to remove the hand on her shirt "you're hurting me" she struggles against him, Brittany attempts to pull his grasp off her too.

"Mr. Fabray… stop!" She cries. The man pushes Brittany away.

"She knows she's not welcome in here… the Church of Atom doesn't allow the impure to defile its walls. Yet here you are in my daughter's room spreading your filth… you're not welcome here." He says again as he jerks the small girl forward, pulling her towards the door. Brittany follows behind the enraged man trying to stop him from hurting her brunette friend. Rachel practically stumbles down the stairs as Quinn's dad drags her towards the front door. He kicks open the door and hurls the small girl out. Rachel falls due to the force, and rolls down the ramp. She lets out a slight groan as her body lands hard against the sheet metal ramp. Brittany runs to her aid, and attempts to help the girl to her feet, but is kicked back by another man. Moriarty was standing above the diva. His face was sporting a smug grin as he reached down and pulled the diva up to her feet. His hand squeezed her arm making her cry out again.

"There you are… I've been looking for you all day Baby Doll, I thought that you might have run away… looks like I was wrong." The man looks at Brittany who is still sitting on the ramp. "Making friends with junkies again? Maybe your friend here is looking for a job. What do ya say? I'm always looking for new girls." Moriarty gleams at the blonde.

Brittany stands and looks at Rachel who is shaking her head no. She wanted to help Rachel, everything was screaming for her too… but when she got up she looked at Rachel who was practically pleading for her to walk away. She didn't know what to do… 'Where is Santana… she would know…' Brittany thinks to herself.

"It's okay Brittany…" Rachel's voice interrupts her thoughts. "I'll be fine… you just wait for Santana to come back, okay."

"Come on Baby Doll… you've got work to do…" Moriarty pulls the diva away from the church and back towards the Saloon. Brittany turns back towards Quinn's dad who was looking pleased with himself.

"How could you do that to her?" A tear rolls down Brittany's face.

"That girl is nothing but a prostitute… she doesn't deserve any pity nor will I give it to her. As for you, and your "friend", you too will no longer be allowed within the Church of Atom… it's clear that you choose paths unwelcome in our union. These are paths that are impure, and should be dealt with by the law. You are no longer welcome here, or welcome around my daughter for that matter. If I see you or that other harlot talking to her I will have you both killed, now get off our ramp." Quinn's dad says before turning and going back into the Church.

Brittany doesn't know what to do.

"There you are… I've been looking for you." Brittany turns around and comes face to face with the sheriff. She hadn't met him but Santana had said he was bad news, and judging by the large gun he was sporting he meant business. "I hear you 'all causing trouble in town. I thought I told your friend it wasn't allowed in my town." The man says.

"I'm sorry sir… I was jus-"

"Can it… I don't listen to junkies… you and your friend were warned, and now you'll be escorted from the premises." The sheriff grabs Brittany and hauls her towards the entrance gate of the town. She doesn't even attempt to fight the man, since she's very much unarmed and he has a very large gun. Lucas Simms throws Brittany out into the waste. "Now listen… and listen good… you aren't allowed back in these walls… if by some miracle you do make it past the deputy here, you will be shot on sight by the other guards, is that clear?" The sheriff says, he then turns to the robot. "Deputy… scan this person into your database."

"Scanning… facial recognition memorized."

"She isn't allowed through these doors, is that clear… you have the authorization to shoot on sight if she does."

"Roger… lethal action has been authorized." The robot says as it turns towards Brittany.

Brittany slowly backs away from the robot. She didn't know how close she was allowed but wasn't willing to find out either. The sheriff seemed happy and went back into the shelter of the town, leaving Brittany unarmed and waiting in the waste. She prayed Santana and Quinn would get here soon, she also prayed Rachel was safe. After hearing about Rachel's past she worried for her friend's safety, she hoped she was sat down next to an old tub and waited for her friends, 'they would know what to do'. The sun was just about to set as Brittany lets out the breath she's been holding, 'come on Santana… please hurry.'

Meanwhile up in Moriarty's

Rachel struggles free from Moriarty's grip. She falls to the floor and scrambles backwards away from the obviously angry man. Her eyes kept looking at the .44 revolver strapped to his belt. "I don't know what the fuck is wrong with every fucken whore I get… every one of them seems to have a death wish." He follows the retreating girl. "And I don't get it… I mean I clothe you… I give you shelter, hell I even pay you, but it never seems like it's enough for you."

"Please Moriarty… I was…"

"You didn't think I knew about your little girlfriend did ya… screwing the daughter of that religious cult… that's a new one. Usually my whores want to have a raise or a bigger room. Occasionally they get it into their heads that they are more than just a slut, and start wanting more respect. Or they get so used up I end up putting them down like an old dog…" he seethes "like your friend… what the hell was her name… Nova… she looked so scared when I pulled my gun on her." He pulls out his revolver. "She kept crying about you… and how you weren't ready… god she even begged me to spare her life until you got older… it was sweet. Then bang!" He jerks his gun. Rachel flinches. "Dead…"

"Please sir… I was just doing my job… Quinn paid for my services…" tears stain her cheeks, but Moriarty doesn't seem convinced.

"No, she paid for one night services… and then you were supposed to come home to your master, but don't worry I got it all figured out. What does one do when their dog keeps running away?" Rachel doesn't see it coming as Gob hits her from behind. He didn't want to, but Moriarty's wrath was feared by all. Moriarty smiles at the now unconscious girl. "Good job Gob… now take her upstairs and chain her like the dog she is."

"Yes sir." Gob lifts the girl and takes her upstairs to her new room, where she was to be chained up from now on.

Out in the Waste

"Hey… did you feel that?" Santana says as they walk into the crumbling house. The sun was setting and Quinn seemed to be in a rush to get the stuff stored.

"Feel what?" Quinn says as she finished putting the food into the fireplace. Santana looked around confused. She's had this feeling before… like something was wrong…

"I don't know… it's just like a feeling." She shrugged it off. Quinn hands her the old clothing she'd been wearing before they left Megaton.

"Here put these back on…"

"Oh thank god… next time you're wearing the leather, cuz I have leather in places I didn't even know things could ride up in."

"Okay… gross." Quinn cringed.

"What, it's like sweat makes this thing stick more… it's not right… I want the Merc suit next time."

"Ah… hell to the no, I'm not going to wear that thing if you sweated in it, that's gross." Quinn says as she changes back into her civilian clothes and stores the other weapons in the case. Santana is having a hard time peeling off her sweaty leather pants. Quinn can't help but laugh at her as she falls onto a dirty couch. "Do you need some help?" She asks after she thinks Santana has struggled enough.

"Please." Quinn grabs a hold of the girl's boots and pulls them off. Santana lets out a cry of pain as Quinn rips her blisters open.

"Shit…" Quinn notices the blood on the girls socks. "Why didn't you say something?"

"I didn't know you planned on ripping off my boot… Fuck!" She cries again as Quinn takes off her stained socks ripping some more skin away from the blisters.

"You of all people should know that they need air." Quinn says as she throws the nasty socks into a junk pile. There was no saving them now. She inspects the girl's heels. "Damn… well at least they're broken open now."

"Do you have anything I could use to sterilize them… then I can bandage them." She says still sitting in her underwear.

"Yeah… I think I have a bottle of alcohol." She scavenges through her stash and tosses the girl and unopened bottle of alcohol.

"Nice…" Santana quickly pours some of the contents onto the wounds and quickly bandage them, and then changes back into her stained clothes. The bandage helped to stop them from chafing, and as long as they didn't start running again she would be fine. She grabs the 9mm and puts it in the waistline of her cargo pants.

"Come on we should hurry, I'm sure those two are freaking out by now." Quinn says as she attaches her knife to her clothes. Darkness was upon the waste, and left visibility to a minimum. The girls reach Megaton just before the gates were supposed to be locked.

"San?" They were just about to enter when Santana heard someone speak her name. Santana turns towards the voice. "Is that you San?" The voice is very quiet but Santana recognizes it as Brittany's.

"Brittany?" The blonde comes out of the darkness and hugs her. "Oh my god… Brittany… what… what are you doing outside? I told you to stay with Rachel." Santana says, Brittany pulls her away from the door towards the old tub. She didn't want to get the robot mad. Santana notices the girl's face. She'd been crying that much was apparent. Quinn looks worried when she noticed the girl.

"Where's Rachel?" She asks.

Brittany starts to cry harder. "Whoa baby… you need to calm down okay… just breath and tell us what's going on." Santana immediately hugs the girl to get her to relax. It takes a moment but she finally catches her breath and calms herself. "There you go… that's it just breath." Santana encourages her. "Now what happened?"

Brittany lets out her breath slowly. "I… we were waiting for you guys in Quinn's room, just like you told us to. We'd finished packing up the stuff, and were just talking to pass the time. Then like out of nowhere your dad came into your room…" Quinn stiffens, "he started yelling at Rachel, I tried to stop him but he was so strong." Brittany's voice starts to get shaky.

"It's okay baby… keep going." Santana rubs her back.

"I … he pulled her down the stairs, and threw her out the door… and Moriarty… he... He was there." That was enough for Quinn, the rest seemed unimportant she quickly moved towards the door.

"Quinn wait!" Santana yells.

"No… he has her so we can't wait!" She fires back. "I won't let him hurt her anymore."

"Quinn… I'm so sorry… I didn't. I wanted to help, but then the sheriff… he grabbed me and tossed me outside, then had that stupid robot scan me so I couldn't get back in without it shooting me. I didn't know what to do… I… I mean I couldn't… I didn't have a weapon otherwise I would have…"

"Hey… shh… everything's going to be just fine. We'll figure this out." She coos into Brittany's ear. "Quinn!" She yells to the blonde who is about to enter the fort again. "Wait… you can't just run in there without a plan… we need to think this through before you start killing people and we all end up dead."

"Look… I can't just wait around while she's up there with him… I can't…"

"I know what you're feeling okay! It's like you can't breathe, because the most important thing in your life is in danger. I get it, but if you go in there and die, then what use are you to Rachel… we need to figure this out okay…" she walks over to the blonde and puts her hand on her shoulder. "Quinn… I promise you we will save Rachel… and then we will leave this place and never come back, but I need your help." Quinn lets out a shaky breath of air before nodding.

"Fine… but we need to hurry," she says in a calm voice. She tries to gain some control over her emotions, the last thing she wanted was to get Rachel killed, or anyone else for that matter. Santana was right they needed to think about this before diving in head first.

"Okay… look the plan is still the same … except we need to get Rachel too. So here's what we're going to do. Brittany and I will sneak in the side, and get the mutant cow thing and meet Quinn behind the church. While we're doing that, you'll sneak into your room and grab the supplies the girls packed up. After we get that done we'll go get the caps and Rachel from the Saloon…" Santana says.

"There's a side door, Rachel talked about it… we could use that. Rachel said it opened right up into Moriarty's room slash storage room, that's where she said the vault is, and we'd be unseen by Moriarty and his guards." Brittany adds.

"That's a good plan Britt… you and I will sneak in that way. That leaves you Quinn to get Rachel… I'm guessing you'll be able to find her in her room. She'll be okay Quinn, Rachel is strong… she'll be there waiting for us, I promise." Brittany than hugs Quinn with just as much force she'd hugged Rachel just hours ago.

"She loves you so much Quinn." She whispers in the girl's ear. "And everything will be fine." She lets the shorter blonde go, Quinn than notices Santana extending her the 9mm. Quinn takes the weapon without question.

"We'll meet each other back outside when everything's done then leave this place as quickly as possible… okay? Any questions?" The group is silent. "Good… let's do this as quickly and quietly as possible…" she takes a moment to let everything sink in. "Let's do this for Rachel." They worked quickly as possible, paying off the Hearder and buying Larry the two headed mutant cow. Larry followed Brittany to the church without making as much as a moo of protest. They waited for Quinn to arrive with the stuff they had packed earlier that day.

Quinn had successfully made it into the Church unnoticed. The Children of Atom were busy praying in the church below. She thought she'd made it out cleanly when her father stepped into the room.

"And where do you think you're going Missy?" Quinn's dad says with a raised eyebrow, he obviously noticed she was carrying bags of her stuff. "Why does it look like your leaving?"

"Because, I am father." She says meeting his glare.

"Like hell you are… now put down those damn bags, and join us for prayer below."

"No."

"No? You dare say no to your own blood. Quinn I'm your father and you will listen to what I say!" He yells at her.

Quinn doesn't flinch. "No… I'm sorry but not this time… this time I'm doing what I think is right." She says. She then attempts to push past her father. The man grabs her arm before she can leave.

"Quinn… you will do as I say, if you walk out that door you will never be allowed back." Quinn jerks her arm away.

"I'm sorry it had to come to this dad… but your right… I won't be coming back." She says as she walks out of her room and towards the stairs.

"And where will you go! Quinn… this is where you belong. By my side, and in the protection of the church not with some harlot druggie who sells her body for a few caps!"

Quinn freezes at the bottom of the stairs. She turns to her father who is standing half way up them. "I love her dad… and I really don't care what you have to say anymore…" she reaches the door.

"Quinn if you leave and go to that whore you will no longer be my daughter… do you understand me?"

And with that Quinn leaves without any hesitation, not even bothering to look back, because there was no going back for her. She makes her way around the back of the building and finds Santana and Brittany waiting her.

"You made it… I was beginning to worry. Everything went okay?" Santana asks. Quinn nods as she slings the gear over the Brahmin's back.

"Everything went fine… are we ready to crack that Vault?"

"Everything seems good to go… are you ready?" Santana asks Quinn who seems to be giving her the thousand yard stare. "Quinn?"

"Yeah… let's do this…" Quinn leads the group up around the backside of the town, they stay in the shadows and snuck past any guards that were lurking around. Even Larry seemed to sneak as well as any two headed cow could. Which was impressive, to say the least.

"Okay this is it." Santana, Quinn, and Brittany reached the backside to Moriarty's Saloon. "Everyone knows what to do, so let's not waste any more time… Quinn I think it will be safe for you to use the front door… they'll think you're just coming up to drink or something. Britt… get that door open." Brittany quickly pulls out her hair pins as Quinn walks around to the front of the Saloon. Brittany pops the lock like it's going out of style. It was a lot faster than when Santana had tried to pick the lock earlier at the store. Brittany was just full of surprises. "Good job Britt-Britt, come on let's go inside and get into that vault." Santana quickly slips inside the loud bar, Brittany is about to follow her when something catches her eye. It was the garbage bin Rachel had talked about in her story, and for some reason she just had to look inside.

She quickly opens the lid and lets out a gasp… 'No Rachel… thank the heavens' she says to herself before closing the lid and following Santana into the back room leaving Larry to guard the back entrance. When she gets inside she notices the back room is exactly how Rachel described… the cans of food where to her right… along with a computer terminal and a vault. Santana was already sitting at the computer terminal typing frantically on the keyboard. Brittany then notices the door to Moriarty's room was directly in front of her. She couldn't help but imagine seeing the man walking in covered in blood. Rachel's story was really starting to get to her.

"Hey… Britt, you okay?" Santana whispers as she continues to type on the screen.

"Yeah… I'm just… I'm okay, just nervous… I don't want anything to go wrong."

"Everything is going to be fine… I've almost hacked into Moriarty's mainframe… and I'm sure Quinn has found Rachel."

* * *

><p>Quinn walks into the bar; no one turns to notice her. She makes her way towards the stairs not even bothering to look around the bar. She knew Rachel wouldn't be there. She walks up to her girlfriends room and opens the door, half expecting to find her girl being fucked or dead. But she's meant with nothing… the room is empty except for the girl's belongings. She thought for sure Rachel would be here. She then gabs as much of the girl's stuff as she can, and stuffs it into a nearby backpack. She slings the bag and walks back down the stairs. This time she scans the room for Rachel, maybe she was working the bar instead. But as she looks around all she sees is Gob working the bar… she couldn't even find Moriarty in the crowd. She starts to panic… 'Where was her Rachel,' she walks up to the bar. Gob immediately notices her, she sees panic in the Ghouls eyes. "Where is she Gob?"<p>

Nova's room

Rachel woke in a room she barely recognized. It was Nova's old room. She hadn't been in here since she'd gotten clean. Panic courses through her when she notices her ankle was chained to the bedpost. Rachel pulls on the chain, but it's no use."Fuck!" She yells knowing that it would be no help… who would help her in this place, no one, not even Gob could be trusted no, since she was 95% sure that's who hit her from behind. She was trapped in an den full of wolves with no escape. She just hoped her friends got out while they could. A tear escapes her, the thought of Quinn leaving her was unbearable, but at least she was away from this place… and had new friends to make her happy.

"Now now, my Baby Doll isn't crying is she?" The voice sent chills down her spine, she hadn't even noticed Moriarty standing in the shadows of the room. "So what do you think about your new room? It's nice isn't it?" The man smirks as he walks into the light. Rachel takes a step back every time the man takes one forward. But in the end she knew there would be no room for running… she was chained to the bed and that was that. "You look so defeated… that's not like you? Usually you're willing to at least give me some sort of fight… what's wrong Baby Doll, scared?" Rachel hits the back wall… there was no more running. "You know I've been thinking a lot these last couple days, about how we first met. You were digging through my garbage bin like some alley cat, looking for scraps and I couldn't help but think how perfect it was… this girl practically came to me. And I knew you would take that job… now look at us… one big happy family. You and I, Gob, and Nova… well scratch that last name but you get the drift. Then you had to go and screw everything up, getting clean, falling for some bitch ass blonde, I mean really you were practically begging for this to happen." The man was in her personal space now. "If you'd just stayed high all of this… would be different. So I've come up with a little treat for you…" He grabs Rachel and throws her on the bed. She rolls over to see what Moriarty was going to do, when she notices in one of his hands he was holding a very distinctive looking syringe, and in the other he was holding his revolver. Rachel lets out a sob, knowing that these were her choices yet again. "Yes… in one hand I have something you're very familiar with… Psycho… and in the other I hold my old friend…" he waves the revolver in her face, Rachel cries even harder… "So what's it going to be… your old friend or my old friend?" The man shakes the two objects as he talks about them. Rachel can't help but cry, but in the end she knew what she wanted. If she couldn't be free to live with Quinn then she didn't want to live.

"Y-yours." She stutters out.

"Wow… now that is surprising… I thought for sure you'd pick your old friend that way I wouldn't lose any money buying a new whore to take your spot, but if you really want a bullet than who am I to deny you that privilege." He holds the revolver to the girl's head. Rachel lets out a half scream… the anticipation was killing her. "But… you know if you're just going to give up anyway why not use the Psycho, it'll be more fun that way." The man gleams as he climbs on top of the screaming girl. Rachel struggles to get away from him, if she was going to die she wanted to be clean, but Moriarty didn't seem to care. "Hold still will you." The man says as he traps the girl's arm.

"No please…" she begged.

"Stop struggling… it'll all be over soon… then you won't even care who you are." familiar words. The needle pierces her skin, and Rachel lets out a chilling scream. She had shot up more times than she could remember… but it never felt like this. The burn was setting her skin on fire. Then she feels the liquid entering her veins as it sets fire to her, and runs through her system like snake's venom. Rachel can only cry silently as the intensity of the drug grabs a hold of her body, attempting to erase her in the process. The shell… the floating it was all familiar, but something was different this time… she could feel, she wasn't supposed to be feeling. She could feel Moriarty undress her… and knew what was going to happen next… but why could she feel?

"Where the fuck is she GOB!" Quinn yells this time.

"She's upstairs…" Quinn pulls out her 9mm and lays it on the bar. The barrel points right at the ghoul.

"Don't fucking lie to me… I was just upstairs and she wasn't there."

"No… she's in Nova's old room…" Quinn gets up from the bar and dashes towards the stairs again. "Moriarty's up there too!" He yells after her.

Quinn is up the stairs quicker this time, she makes her way towards Nova's old room.

Inside Rachel was on top of Moriarty… moving slowly against the man. She can tell he's close and leans forward, kissing him in the process.

"Fuck Baby Doll… I knew all you needed was a little Psyc…" but before he could finish his forehead comes up close and personal with a certain .44 revolvers barrel. Rachel looks down at the guy's face through hooded eyes.

"Next time… don't leave your fucking weapon beside the bed." She whispers to him.

"No… wait-" but before he can say anything else Rachel pulls the trigger, setting off the hammer, priming the round, and shooting the man. Rachel falls off the dead body making sure to put enough distance between them. She looks at the damage, Moriarty was definitely dead… she can't help but give a relieved smile. The bad man was dead, and she was naked, high, and covered in his blood. Quinn was probably long gone… everything was over. She places the revolver next to her own temple…

Quinn froze when she heard a gun go off in the room. Her blood ran cold, but then ignited with an uncontrollable rage. She kicked down the door ready to kill the motherfucker inside but instead she was met with something entirely different. The body on the bed wasn't Rachel's… she was fine, and holding a gun to her temple. "Rachel!" She yells as she grabs the gun from the girl before she can pull the trigger. Quinn tosses the weapon to the side of the room. The girl she was now holding was bawling hysterically. Quinn had no idea what had happened in the room, but they were running out of time. The shot would have been heard downstairs, she hoped the guards weren't on their way up. "Rachel… we need to go…" the girl continued to sob.

"I can't… you're not real… you're not really here… why did you stop me I can't live without you Quinn."

"Rachel… baby I am here… I'm right here see." Quinn pulls the girls face towards her so she can see that she's really there. That's when she noticed the girl's eyes, they were dilated beyond normal. Quinn panics, she knew what she was seeing. She grabbed the girl's arm, sure enough there was a hole bleeding slightly from where the needle was stuck. "No… no no no…." Quinn shoots the dead man twice in the chest… her anger was the only thing controlling her at the moment. "You fucking bastard you couldn't just leave her alone." The shots pull Rachel out of her daze.

"Quinn… you're really here?" The girl's voice sounds weak but it pulls Quinn back to reality.

"Yeah, I'm here."

"I thought you left..." Rachel wraps her arms around the blonde, Quinn can't help but wrap her arms around the girl and hold her as tight as possible.

"I thought I lost you… when I heard that gunshot… I thought that was it, and that he'd taken you from me forever."

"I'm right here… well sorta…" Quinn looks at the girl in confusion. "Oh… it's just… the drugs talking. It's weird I've thought a lot about what it would feel like to use again… but it wasn't anything like I expected… just pain and sadness."

"Shh… you don't have to talk about it baby…"

"I didn't want to use… you know that right, I didn't… but then he did…" Rachel seemed to forget what she was talking about and started to space out.

"Hey… babe we need to go, Santana and Brittany are downstairs waiting for us, and we need to go before Moriarty's goons come up here to see if her okay."

"I can't go anywhere, I'm chained see..." Rachel pulls her leg and shows Quinn the silver chain wrapped around her ankle. "We need a key." Quinn looks in the only place she could think of. The very dead body of Moriarty, which was still clothed. Only his pants were around his ankles. Quinn quickly checks the pockets.

Meanwhile downstairs.

Santana cracks the code to the computer… it was the guy's name. Santana couldn't help but scoff at how easy it was to break into. Inside she found files on the town's people, which from the looks of it was just on the town's tabs. Rachel's name wasn't even at the top of the list. "Damn this guy knows how to run a bar." She skims through files until she comes to a log page. "Oh, here we go… this should unlock the safe." She hits the button, and the safe next to them pops open. "Jackpot…" that's when she hears the gun shot go off upstairs. She could tell that it wasn't her 9mm either, the gun sounded a lot bigger. "Shit… Britt grab the caps, we need to go."

"But what about…" two more shots are fired, this time it sounded like her 9mil.

"No time Britt… we need to go…" she cracks open the safe. Inside is a bunch of caps, then she notices the Luger sitting in the back of the vault. She grabs it and checks the clip. Its full… she loads around. "Okay grab the caps, and I'll meet you outside."

"Wait what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to make sure Quinn found Rachel alright then we will meet out back, okay." She then pulls Brittany in for a kiss. Their lips meet with almost a hunger for one another. Santana pulls away from the blonde. "Wish me luck." She mutters before going through the door that lead into the main part of the bar. Santana noticed the bar had cleared out, the gun shots must have scared all the customers away. Even Gob the Bartender was nowhere to be seen. Santana reaches the stairway before she notices two of Moriarty's guards making their way towards the last room, both of them had their weapons up ready to take out the shooter. Santana just hoped it was Quinn that was still alive in that room. The men get to the door, Santana Is right behind them, she takes cover behind a table, then before the goons can surprise whoever was inside she opens fire on the pair. The Luger was loud and for the most part not very effective but the bullets did seem to catch the attention of the two guards. The pair open fire on Santana who was now ducking behind her table, which she was finding wasn't very good cover. The bullets ricochet off the nearby surface. She continued to fire at the pair hitting one of the guards before running out of bullets. "Shit… shit." She chucks the useless piece of crap at the remaining guy, who laughs.

"You ran out of bullets little girl… now you're mine." Santana could hear the guys getting closer. Then she hears two very familiar shots. She peers around the table to see the other guard fall to the ground. Behind him she notices Quinn is standing in front of a now clothed Rachel.

"You okay Santana?"

Santana gets up from her hiding place.

"I am now… I was worried for a moment that you two didn't make it."' Santana says as Quinn and Rachel walk over the dead bodies."And Moriarty?"

"He's not so fine…" Quinn says, that's when Santana notices Rachel I covered in blood, she seems out of it."Is she going to be okay?"

"Yeah… she'll be okay, we should go before the sheriff gets here. Did you guys crack the safe?"

"Yeah… it was easy… Brittany is waiting around back, we should be ready to go. The girls don't need to say anymore, they accomplished their task and now only needed to escape the walls of Megaton. Brittany's face lights up when she sees Rachel is very much alive. She hugs the girl. Rachel returns the hug. She didn't think she'd ever see the girl again.

"I was worried… I didn't know if you were going to be okay… I wanted to help you so bad back at the Church."

"I know Britt- Britt, I'm just happy you guys didn't leave without me."

"Of course we'd never leave without you… Quinn would never be happy without you." Brittany exclaims as she pulls away from her friend.

"We really need to leave before someone finds us." Santana says trying to get the group to focus on getting the hell out of there. Quinn silently agreeds before pulling Rachel into her arms, Brittany grabs hold of Larry's halter and leads him towards the front gate. The gate would be locked, there was no doubt about that, but the group had hoped to find a way past them.

"What about the deputy? What if he sees me?" Brittany asks, as they get closer to the exit.

"Don't worry Britt… we'll make sure that thing can't scan you okay, just stay on the other side of Larry that way it can't scan your face."

"That might work." Truthfully Santana didn't think they would have gotten this far, after Rachel was taken, she'd talked about staying calm and making a plan but she never thought they'd make it this far. They make it to the gate unharmed and unseen. Nevertheless, it was locked just like always; there was no way for them to sneak Larry out but the front gate.

"Okay… now what?" There had to be a way.

"Hold it right there." A voice behind them breaks through the silence of the night. It was the sheriff Lucas Simms, and he looked pissed. "Please tell me I'm not seeing what I think I'm seeing." The man looked like he was about to shoot every single one of the girls.

"Please Mr. Simms… we just want to leave." Quinn pleads as she holds Rachel in her arms.

"You guys know anything about that shooting up at the bar?" The girls don't say anything. "You know I should have you all shot, but for some reason I feel it would be more trouble than good." He says. He then hits a button next to the gate, the locks unhinged, and the gate slowly opens. "I don't want to see you girls back here… you hear me." He says. The four of them shake their head in understanding. The sheriff was giving them a way out and they weren't about to ruin that.

"And make sure that deputy doesn't see the blonde one, I really don't want to have to clean up anymore dead bodies tonight." The girls leave. They make their way through the giant steel door of Megaton for the last time. The deputy wishes them goodbye as they lead Larry down towards Springville to gather the rest of their supplies. The day was over, and for the most part they were okay. Their first stop would be the shag shack to sleep the rest of the night. Then they would figure out their next destination in the morning. But for now they were just too tired to care.

End…

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><p>That's it for now… this chapter was a little more than I realized and didn't come out exactly how I imagined but it works and I got them out of Megaton… finally. Now I have to attempt to figure out what to do with them.<p>

Quick side note if you're a gamer like me and have played Fallout 3 I hope you caught on to some the perks the characters have. Santana has more of the medicine, computer whiz, and small arms perks. Quinn is more Melee weapons and Explosives with a side of barter. Brittany has Lock picking along with Animal friend perks, and Rachel I'm going with black widow and lady killer with some speech through in there. Obviously just like in the game, they will obtain more perks, but those are the ones you're going to see as the story continues. Again that was just if you're a crazy gamer like me, if you're not… then that whole section probably made absolutely no sense what so ever…


	7. Curiosity

Disclaimer: I do not own glee or its characters

Author's notes: I know it's been a long time, but here's the update. This chapter is going to be a little less insane, it should just be their first day in the waste and trying to figure out what they're going to do. Thanks to the readers who have been reviewing this story.

Fallout

**Chapter 7: Curiosity**

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><p>It was their first night outside the protecting walls of Megaton, and for the most part, it wasn't bad. It was quiet. The only noises that seem to curse the Wasteland was the sound of the wind as it blew against the rusted out building they were currently residing in. Sure, the shag shack wasn't the safest place in the Wasteland, but it was the closest. The girls found themselves sleeping practically on top of each other in the rundown house. They even fit in the full size bed, which was impressive. The four girls seemed to take comfort in each other's closeness as they used their bodies to keep themselves warm. Brittany was squished against the wall with her arms around Santana, who was acting as Brittany's blanket as she slept. Santana's face was buried in Brittany's hair. She could feel Rachel snuggled in behind her. Rachel's breath tickled the back of her neck due to how close they were sleeping. Finally, Quinn was asleep on the outside edge of the bed. Her arms encircled the tiny brunette to keep her from falling out of the bed. Morning seeped across the Waste, bringing with it a new day, and their first day outside the confines of Megaton. Quinn was the first one to wake. She gazes at Rachel, who was still sleeping soundly. The images of last night plague her mind. Moriarty was no longer a problem that much she knew. However, she couldn't shake the image of Rachel holding a revolver to her head, it was haunting her to no end. As she lay in the overcrowded bed with her arms around Rachel, the girl she loved, she broke down. Her tears stream down her cheeks as she tries her best to subdue her cries. The last thing she wanted was to wake the sleeping girls, she didn't want them to ask why she was crying.<p>

'It's too much. I'm supposed to protect you.' She thinks as more tears fall from her eyes. Her breathing starts to become shaky as tries to stay quiet. "I failed…," she whispers lightly into Rachel's ear. She didn't mean to say it out loud, but her emotions were slowly taking over. Quinn untangles herself from Rachel and rolls out of bed as quietly as possible. All she wanted was to get outside. The room was starting to spin, and its walls were slowly enclosing around her. She needed fresh air. She quickly exits the shag shack, sighing relief as she meets the cool morning air of the Wastes. She was still dressed in yesterday's clothing, which were now wrinkled from sleeping in them. The Waste seemed so peaceful, almost as though it was another world, or another time. A time before monsters and mutants ruled the landscape. The cool morning air seemed to calm her slightly as she dries away her tears. She takes in a big breath of fresh air and slowly lets it out. 'Why can't this be a dream…' she thinks to herself. She wishes this were just some horrible nightmare. She wished she would wake up in a nicer world, a world that didn't prey on the people she loved. "I just want to wake up." She rubs her eyes. The door to the shag shack opens quietly.

"Baby?" A voice calls from behind her. She didn't need to turn to see who it was. Rachel had woken as soon as she felt the bed dip. "What… what are you doing out here?" Quinn wipes the tears from her face as she turns to face Rachel. It was a failed attempt to cover up the fact she was crying. Her red puffy eyes said it all. Rachel is standing in front of the shag shack with her arms wrapped around herself. It was still a little chilly considering the sun had just come up.

"Nothing, I guess I couldn't sleep anymore." Quinn lies, truthfully that's all she wanted to do. 'Sleep for forever.' Rachel slowly walks towards her. She can tell Quinn's hiding something from her. Quinn looks as if she were a million miles away, instead of five feet from her.

"Quinn…" Rachel says as she takes another step forward.

Quinn immediately takes one backward. She needed to keep her distance; otherwise, she would break down again. 'Rachel can't see me cry… not when I'm supposed to be strong for her.' She stifles her tears. "I'm fine Rachel, really… I just was restless." She tries to reassure the worried brunette. Rachel doesn't look convinced.

"Okay." Rachel decides to drop it. She didn't want to push the blonde to her breaking point. The moment was awkward, and uncomfortable. Both wanted to be close to each other, but at the same time needed the distance.

Quinn was the first to break the silence. "How are you feeling this morning…" she asks as she attempts to read Rachel, who would be coming down from her high soon. "Do you need any water?"

Rachel shakes her head no. "I think I'm fine. My heads still a little foggy and I'm having a hard time remembering what happened last night." She pauses and tries to recall yesterday's events but the memories are fragmented. "I'm having some difficulty differentiating the reality from the drugs influence. It just was so…" she trails off. She can't find the words to describe what she's feeling. 'Overwhelmed. Lost. Dirty.' Is just a few that were plaguing her mind. Rachel remembers using. That feeling was engraved in her mind. However, what happened to her last night was indescribable. The first time she'd ever used she'd felt numb, and distant. Like her body and her soul were separate from one another. Lost outsider herself, which made it easier to do her job. It was easy not to care when you couldn't feel. Last night she felt everything. The burning as the drug coursed through her veins, the feeling of being used as a sex toy for a wicked man's pleasure, and the weight of the trigger as she shot that man without hesitation. But mostly she felt the anguish. Last night she thought she'd lost everything, and the drug didn't erase that. They stand there in silence. Larry's muffled breathing was the only thing that could be heard.

"Rachel… I am so so sorr-"A tear slips from her eye, and rolls down her cheek.

"Don't Quinn, I know you think that what transpired last night with Moriarty and me was your fault, but it wasn't. I-I hate what that man did to me… to us." Rachel can feel the anger she had felt last night start to build again. "But he's gone now, and we're finally free."

"But…" Quinn sniffles back her tears.

"No, as of today I'm not going to let my past dictate me. This is me, the real me, or it will be as soon as this drug gets out of my system." Rachel takes another step towards Quinn, closing the distance between them. This time Quinn doesn't move away. Instead, she pulls Rachel into her arms and hugs her. She hugs her with all her might, and allows her tears to fall. Everything was going to be okay."Shh, Quinn. It's okay." Rachel slowly rubs Quinn's back. "Everything is going to be okay." She tries to comfort the now crying blonde.

Quinn was only so strong; she couldn't hold back her emotions any longer. So instead of fighting them, she released them. "You h-have noooo idea… I-I thought I lost you. When I heard that shot go off, I felt my heart stop. Rachel I just, I couldn't imagine life without you…"

Last night was hazy, but Rachel remembers the sound of the 44. The sound pulled her from her drug induced state."I know I felt it too. It was as if I'd lost everything. I'd thought you'd left, and it was the worst feeling I've ever felt." Rachel says as tears run from her eyes. "I wanted to give up, at that moment it seemed to be all over, and then you busted through the door and saved me." She smiles at the last part.

"Rach-" Quinn cups Rachel's cheek. It was hard to believe she'd saved her. She didn't feel like an angel.

"No, you did… you saved me from myself." Rachel wipes the rest of Quinn's tears from her face. She cups her cheek and kisses her gently on the lips. "Now no more tears… okay. We're together, and that's all that matters."

Quinn pulls away from Rachel and looks deep into her eyes. "Rachel I promise you... I will never leave you alone again."

"Really… never ever. That's kind of clingy, isn't it?" Rachel smirks as she tries to lighten the mood.

"Oh shush… you're going to have to get used to it, because Im'ma be stuck to you like glue baby." She says as she kisses Rachel's forehead.

Rachel rolls her eyes. "I think I could get used to that… So what do we have planned for today?"

Quinn scuffs her shoes in the dirt. "Well, once Santana and Brittany get up I figured we would try for the next town… hopefully we'll get there before nightfall." She didn't sound very hopeful only because she really didn't know how far the next town was. She only knew the landscape from Waste Landers and merchants who visited Megaton.

"The next closes town is Big Town, right?" Rachel asks. In her mind, it seemed like the safest place they could try for.

"I think so, otherwise Grayditch is in the other direction, but that's towards the supermarket and we've already confirmed raiders in that direction. It would probably be wise to avoid it." Unless they wanted to get shot at again.

"You ran into raiders on your way to the supermarket?" Rachel is shocked. Of course, there hasn't been an appropriate time to talk about the supermarket. They went through enough yesterday to forget about the mini adventure. Now seemed like a good enough time to catch Rachel up on everything that unfolded while they trekked across the Wasteland.

"Yeah, twice actually, there was a small group that shot at us when we came to this farm, and then we were ambushed while in the supermarket. If it hadn't been for those nail mines and Santana's quick programing skills we wouldn't have made it back." She shrugs it off as if it was nothing.

"Oh my god, but you're okay… I mean you didn't get hurt or anything right?" Rachel attempts to check the blonde for wounds, but Quinn pulls away.

"I'm fine Rachel, really. It could have been a lot worse. I think the only wounds were Santana's blisters."

"Oh my god, is she okay? Did she see the doctor before we left?"

Quinn giggles slightly. "She's fine Rachel, and she's practically a doctor herself. So I don't think we need to worry too much about her blisters." She says with a grin. The way Rachel got excited over the littlest things always made her smile.

"So what are you thinking, do we go west or try for another large settlement?"

"Truthfully Rach, I didn't think we'd make it this far… I'm not sure where we should go. West seems to be the best option, but I don't think we'll get very far with our weapons. It almost seems like we should try for another town. I wish we had a map of the area."

"Well, Big Town is the closest, and then Arefu is close to that if I'm not mistaken. I don't remember much about either of those places, but it's a start."

"Let's start with Big Town then go from there." Quinn grabs a hold of Rachel's hand and starts to lead her towards the abandoned buildings. "Come on there's some things I need to grab from my stash before we leave. Hopefully those two Vault dwellers are up by the time we get back." The two of them disappear into the quiet town. Leaving Larry to guard the entrance to the shag shack.

Inside the Shag Shack

Santana felt both Quinn and Rachel get up, but decided to give them some privacy. She wasn't complaining though, since she could lay in Brittany's arms forever. It was the ideal life. The blonde was still sleeping soundly next to her. It was the first night Brittany didn't wake up in a cold sweat. 'She was actually getting better.' Santana thinks as she eyes her sleeping beauty. Santana lightly runs her fingertips across Brittany's smooth jaw. She maps out every feature of the sleeping girl's face. Brittany looked so serene, and stirred as she felt Santana's fingers slide across her lips. Subconsciously she opens her mouth, as her dream state merged with reality. "Brittany?" Santana whispered as she inched forward. She tries to judge whether Brittany was awake or not. Brittany felt the warm breath of Santana graze over her lips but didn't open her eyes. If this was a dream, she definitely didn't want to wake up from it. "Brittany… you awake?" Again, Santana's question goes unanswered. She leans closer into the sleeping girl capturing her lips in the process. Brittany instantly responded as her lips moved gently against hers. Brittany opens her eyes the second Santana pulls away. She lets out a moan when she feels Santana's breath exhale into her open waiting mouth. Brittany snakes her fingers into Santana's hair and pulls her back down into a kiss. There was something about Santana's lips. She just couldn't get enough of them. They were so full and delicate, and seemed to fit perfectly against hers. They pulled gently at her bottom lip. Brittany can't help but moan. It was just too good to be true. Santana moves her hand to Brittany's hip. Her finger tips find bare skin as she lightly draws her fingertips against her hip bone. The touch was as a feather, and was almost as if it wasn't there at all. The touch is enough to make Brittany gasp lightly against Santana's lips. Their kiss heats up as Santana runs her tongue over Brittany's bottom lip. Brittany eagerly intertwines her tongue with Santana's. She loved the taste of her. They slowly grind against each other, as their lips move easily and naturally against each other. With another stroke of their tongues and a wet kiss on the lips, they break apart. They breathe each other in. The taste was so intoxicating, it left them both wanting more.

"Good thing I was already lying down, otherwise I'm pretty sure my legs would have given out just now." Brittany whispers as she leans to capture Santana's lips once more.

"Mmnnnn B-Britt-"Santana loses her breath slightly. Brittany pulls away again. Her eyes roam Santana's face. They rest their foreheads together. Santana's eyes had closed somewhere between the first and second kiss. Her breath brushes rhythmically against Brittany's lips. This temps Brittany again. She wants nothing more but to kiss Santana until she passes out. Instead, she settles with a single kiss to the Latina's Santana's eyes open. Her lips were puffy, but so were Brittany's. She can't help but smile at how red they look.

'They look so kissable it's ridiculous' Brittany thinks as she eyes the full lips. She wanted nothing more than to capture them again.

"So you are awake." Santana gleams. She was feeling the vibes Brittany was sending her, and made her want to strip and beg Brittany to take her here and now. It was the shag shack after all.

"How could I stay asleep when your lips are on mine?" Brittany says as she snuggles into Santana.

"Hum… I think you're right, that seems like it would literally be impossible." Santana leans forward and kisses Brittany again. Slower this time but it still managed to make Brittany moan. "Soo… how did you sleep last night? I didn't feel you toss or turn."

"I actually slept well, I must have been exhausted or something. It feels as though I just closed my eyes like five minutes ago, and now it's morning." Brittany closes her eyes again. She basks in Santana's tight welcoming arms.

"Huh… but you feel rested?"

"I do… maybe it was your sweet lady kisses the re-energized me." Brittany says with a cheeky grin.

"Seems possible." Santana says with a smirk.

"Are Rachel and Quinn already up?"

"Yeah… I felt them leave just before I woke you. We should probably get up soon." She says the last part with a grumble. She really didn't want to get up.

"Aw, I was hoping we could christen this bed too." Brittany frowns. The idea seemed fantastic in Brittany's mind.

"Oh no, we are not going to make it a goal to have sex on every bed we sleep on." Brittany pouts. "No Brittany, I am not going to have sex with you in the Shag Shack. I don't want to risk catching something." She cringes at the thought.

"But Rachel and Quinn have fooled around here."

"Yeah, and who knows who else." Brittany pouts more. "No Brittany… no morning sexy times." She couldn't believe she shot down morning sex with Brittany. That would never have happened in the vault, but at least in the vault she knew who has slept in her bed.

"You're no fun." Brittany sulks.

"You love me" Santana kisses Brittany again. She didn't want the blonde to be mad at her. Santana wriggles out of Brittany's arms, and sits up on the bed. She feels Brittany sit up behind her. Neither of them wanted to get out of bed, but soon they knew they would have to get further away from Megaton. Sure Moriarty was dead, Rachel had killed the motherfucker, but they were far from safe. Moreover, the Shag Shack wasn't suited for four females to thrive in.

Brittany wraps her arms around Santana. "Hey San…" She rests her head on Santana's shoulder breathing in the girl as she does.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think Rachel will be okay?" The room is quiet. They really wanted to avoid any reminders of last night.

"Yeah Britt… I think she'll be okay. She's small, but she's also strong. Plus, Quinn, you, and I will be for her."

"But it's different for her right, since she use to use before she met Quinn."

"Hum, well I imagine it will be a little different, but Britt it doesn't mean she's not going to get clean. Come on, we better get up and check on Larry, I think I can hear him complaining."Brittany reluctantly lets go of Santana and allows her to get up from the grungy bed. The two of them slowly started to get ready. Santana pulls on her boots. She still felt some discomfort due to the broken blisters on her heals.

Meanwhile across the road Quinn was digging through her stash. She grabbed the supplies from the supermarket along with weapons and armor. Rachel is surprised at how much stuff they were able to obtain yesterday. She picks threw some of the supplies, eyeing it curiously.

"You guys got so much food… are those frag grenades?" Rachel picks up one of the explosives. She's never seen a frag grenade up close before. The one thing she noticed was the pin that held the spoon closed. Her curiosity was starting to get the better of her as she wraps her hands tighter around the ordinance.

Quinn recognizes that face and deems it necessary to intervene. "You better let me hold on to that." Quinn takes the ordinance from the diva's hands. "Here, this is for you, I think it's the only thing that will fit you." She smirks as she holds up an outfit. "Don't tell Santana I had another Merc Outfit."

Rachel accepts the clothing. "You expect me to wear this?" Rachel holds up the short red and black shirt. It would only cover up half of her upper body. "Isn't it a little small?" She inspects the used clothing closely hoping to find a flaw that would keep her from wearing it.

"What, no… all the female Mercs wear it like that." Quinn tries to convince her. She smiles when Rachel nods slightly.

"But I'm not actually a Merc Quinn. Can't I just wear my own clothes?"

"Trust me Rachel you're going to want to wear this instead. Keep your clothes for when we find a town to live in. Otherwise, they'll all be dirty, and we may not have a means to wash them for a while."

"You just want to see me wearing leather don't you?" She says with a smug smile.

"Well… it has been a while…" Rachel swats her away. "What?"

"Nothing you two headed horn dog." Quinn grabs the clothing back from Rachel.

"Here let me help you." She attempts to undue Rachel's pants.

Rachel tries to swat her hands away.

"Quinn! I can't change out here, what if someone sees?" Quinn's hands were already working on Rachel's grubby clothing.

"Whose going to see Rachel, were in an abandoned building in the middle of nowhere." She says with a smug smile as Rachel's pants fall to the worn out floor. They both look at the article, as it lay pooled at Rachel's feet. Rachel shivers slightly as the cool air kisses her exposed skin.

She crosses her arms, and looks at Quinn with a raised eyebrow.

"Happy?"

Quinn smiles and shakes her head yes. How could she not be, Rachel was beautiful, and her legs were Quinn's favorite. She could admire them all day if it weren't for the death glares she was receiving from Rachel.

She clears her throat and tries to focus.

"Come on, pull on those pants, and let's see if they fit."

Rachel squeezes into the tight black leather pants. They fit perfect. Like a well formed glove made to accentuate Rachel's ass perfectly.

"Wow these are surprisingly comfortable, do they look okay?" Rachel spins to show off her pants.

"You look like a badass Merc for hire" Quinn winks as she pulls out her own armor. For some reason the Merc outfit fit better than the leather armor, and was made of lighter material. However, unlike Rachel's armor Quinn's clothing resembled a duster instead of a half shirt?"

"Why is your shirt normal? I thought you said Merc females wore the cut off top."

"Well they do, this is just an older design. Do you need me to help you out of that top?"

Rachel shook her head no, and strips in front of the smirking blonde, but before she could pull on her top Quinn stops her.

"What?" Rachel looks down at the body.

"Nothing, just enjoying the view." Rachel swats her.

"You're incorrigible, you know that right." Rachel squeezes into the top. It was nice they could find some humor in their current situation. "What about Brittany and Santana, do they get tight leather outfits to travel in?"

"Well the only thing I have left is the leather armor Santana wore yesterday and an old wanders outfit. I think Brittany will fit in this… she's so tall." Quinn finishes pulling out the rest of her hidden supplies. "We should head back over and see if those two sleepy heads are even up yet. Can you help me carry some of this stuff back over?" They pick up the supplies and weave their way out of the rundown building for the last time.

"Hey Quinn… why didn't you change?" Rachel asks as they cross the empty street back towards the Shag Shack.

Quinn smiles.

"Are you kidding me, what if someone sees me?" She says as a joke.

"Quinn!" Rachel slaps her arm.

By the time they got back to the shack Brittany and Santana were already outside. Brittany was brushing Larry, while Santana stood as far away from the creepy creature as possible. The mutated cow looked happy as it munched on a withered shrub.

"Hey, they're up." Quinn says loud enough to catch the attention of the two girls. Brittany turns towards Quinn and Rachel, her smile is instantaneous.

"Rachel!" She rushes over and gives the small diva a hug.

"Good morning Brittany… did you sleep well?" Rachel returns the hug, or she tries to at least.

"Yup, and then Santana gave me the most amazing morning kisses ever. I mean they were so hot they made me want to take her… "

"Brittany! You don't need to inform Rachel about every intimate moment we share." Santana says as she grabs one of the bags from Quinn.

"But, Rachel likes to hear about that stuff." Brittany says with a cheeky smile. She winks at Rachel who is smirking too.

"That doesn't mean you should tell her." She folds her arms across her chest.

"Aw, look how cute she is in this outfit San…" she squeezed the diva one last time for good measure.

"Thank you Brittany." She stumbles a little after Brittany releases her.

"Do I get an awesome outfit like that Santana?" Brittany jumps a little.

"Um I don't know… Quinn?" Santana wasn't sure if Quinn had more outfits. If she didn't they would have to find something for Brittany to wear as they traveled.

"Well, I do have some clothing that might fit you, but they aren't in the best of shape." She hands Brittany the folded bundle of clothing. "I know they look a little worn, but it's the only thing I've been able to obtain over the years. They should protect you at least from the normal wear and tear of the Waste, they'll have to work until we can find something better. I've heard that some merchants sell metal armor, which would probably be better for all four of us. I guess we'll have to make do with what we have for now."Brittany unfolds the tattered clothing. They were plain, and didn't look as cute as Rachel's.

"Well at least they don't smell as bad as the clothes I'm wearing." She tries to find the positive in the situation.

"It's just for a little while, and we'll find something that fits you I promise. I need new armor too, since mine tend to shrink as I walk." Quinn hands Santana her outfit. "Ug, I'm not looking forward to wearing that again, and why is Rachel wearing a Merc suit? I thought you said you didn't have any other Merc outfits?"

"I might have been lying, but there is no way you'd fit in it anyway."

"Are you calling me fat?" Santana says as Brittany grabs a hold of her wrist to prevent her from getting up in Quinn's face.

"Sanny, Quinn is just saying that Rachel is very, very small. Like a midget or something, not that you're fat… right Quinn?"

"Hey I'm not a midget." Rachel says, now just as upset as Santana.

"Whoa… okay time out everyone…" Quinn interjects before the conversation gets out of hand. "Let's not get all crazy here. Santana I'm sorry if it sounded like I called you fat, and Rachel you are not a midget since Santana is barely taller than you are. So let's all relax and get ready for the day."

After they all slipped into their traveling garb, they met back outside to help load up Larry for their trip. Quinn had on her Merc outfit, with her hair tied back in a ponytail. She also slipped on her power fist and sheathed her knife through the back part of her pants. She wore a small backpack that was holding several different types of explosives. 'Just in case.' She tethers the equipment to the mutant cow. Rachel now had on a dark pair of goggles, along with a pre-war baseball hat. Quinn had given her the .44 magnum as a weapon. It only had five bullets left, but it still was a powerful weapon, and as soon as it ran out of ammo, they could always sell it for caps. She fidgeted slightly as they finished strapping on bags to the animal. Larry didn't seem to mind. Brittany was tying on bags of food to Larry, along with some traveling rucks. Her outfit was a little baggy, since it was for a grown man, but she found it quite comfortable. She also put on Rachel's old cowboy hat to block the sun's rays. She had Santana's 9mm holstered on her waist. She wasn't sure how to use it. Santana was a few feet away from the large animal. She had on the same tan leather armor from yesterday, and just like yesterday, she could feel it start to shrink to her skin. She also had her long black hair pulled back; it almost looked like a frohawk. She slung her hunting rifle around her back and had a hand full of bullets in the waistline of her belt. She looked badass.

"You know you could help us." Quinn calls to Santana.

"I am helping… hello, I'm pulling security." There was no way she was getting close to that… thing.

"Santana doesn't really like Larry yet, but I'm working on her. Soon they'll be best friends."

"Are we almost ready to go…? I'm baking out here, and we don't even know where we're going." Santana says as she tries to change the subject. She would never admit she was afraid of Larry. 'I mean come on, it has two heads.'

"Look I know we don't have a map or whatever, but our best bet is to follow the river upstream. From what I remember travelers saying, it's just off the river." Quinn says as she finishes strapping on the last of the supplies. "I'm sure it's not that far away. We just need to stay alert, and we'll be fine."

"Whatever… are we ready?" Santana shrugs; she didn't really care where they went so long as they headed in the right direction. She didn't want to wander around aimlessly.

"Yes Santana we're ready." Quinn grumbles. She wanted to add 'no thanks to you' but decided to let it go.

"Great, let's go." Santana says as she starts to walk, only to stop right away. "What way are we going exactly?"

"Um… I believe we follow this road out of town, supposedly there is a river just past the old school, and from there we follow it upstream." Quinn says. It seemed simple enough when you didn't think about running into hordes of weird creatures.

"Right, left it is." Santana unslings her weapon and starts down the broken up street. The girls follow her. They walked relatively close to one another. Brittany and Rachel lead Larry followed by Quinn who was keeping rear security. There was no way she was going to be ambushed again. Larry seemed to keep up with the girls, he didn't complain or fight being lead. Instead, he followed Brittany closely. The streets were bare, and the building's past the Shag Shack were old and falling apart. The town was a shell of its former self. It was weird to think that this place use to be inhabitable. They continue down the empty street.

"Quinn? What is that?" Santana stops, ahead she sees a shiny floating object coming towards her. Quinn sees it too. It was hard to make out, but it looked like a metal sphere floating down the road.

Quinn has to squint to see the damn thing.

"Wait… it looks like… an Eyebot." Santana had her weapon ready to fire. She was already lining up her sights on the flying robot.

"Is it dangerous?" 'If it was a bad robot wouldn't its scanners pick up on us by now?' she really didn't know much about robots, but the brief encounter with the Super-mart bot had given her an idea of what they are capable of.

"From what I've heard, Eyebot's usually play radio transmissions. I think they may be harmless. Hold your fire."

The robot gets closer, bringing with it a sound. They all strain their ears to hear it.

"It's just music." Rachel says with a smile. Before they could even catch the whole song, the robot passes them. It didn't seem to notice them.

"That was so cool." Brittany says as her eyes follow the path of the retreating robot. They wait until it disappears from their sight before they continue their way out of Springville. As they continue down the street, Brittany notices something weird sticking out of the ground just ahead of them. It was across from a giant building with a sign out front that said 'Welcome to Springville Elementary School.' It was a run-down playground. Brittany runs over to the playground equipment, and eyes it suspiciously. It was old and probably wasn't the safest but she still wanted to figure out what they did. Even Larry seemed interested, since he followed her over to the weird devices.

"Brittany, what are you doing?" Santana asks.

"What are they?" Brittany touches the rusty metal slide. Rachel comes up beside her.

"They look-"she tries to explain but Brittany is already at the top of the metal slide.

"Now what?" She asks, looking down at Rachel. Surly Rachel would know what she was supposed to do.

"You just sit down and slide." She says. Brittany does exactly as she's told and slides down the front half of the slide. The slide itself wasn't in the greatest condition. It was worn with rust, but Brittany didn't care. She even put her hands up as she went down.

"Santana you got to try this, it so much fun!" The girls all gather around the playground equipment, but they don't join Brittany. They just watch her try out the next piece of pre-war engineering.

"Brittany we need to keep moving before it gets dark." Santana calls to Brittany as she goes down the slide once more.

"But…" Brittany really wanted to try the swings before they left. Rachel had tried to explain how to use them, but before she could sit down Santana calls to her again.

"No Brittany, now… we can't stand around in the Waste like sitting ducks, we need to keep moving."

"How can a duck sit San? That makes no sense." She just didn't want to leave yet. It was fun exploring the Waste for the first time. Hell this was probably the most funs she's had since they left the Vault.

"Britt let's go!" Santana yells again. This time she starts to move away from the playground, and back to the road. Rachel and Quinn follow closely behind her.

"Fine… I'm coming." Brittany chases after them.

They walk past the rundown school until the road ends, in front of them is a vast looking body of murky water.

"Hey at least we found the river…" Santana says as she looks over her shoulder to the rest of the group. Only there was someone missing from the group. "Brittany?" The blonde wasn't behind them. She looks back at the playground but doesn't see the blonde messing around on the equipment. "Where the fuck is Brittany?" Her voice rises as she starts to panic. The three of them turn to look for Brittany.

"She was right behind me with Larry." Rachel says. That's when they notice Larry standing in front of the old school. His nose was nudging the door.

"Shit." Santana takes off running towards the school. There was a reason Santana didn't want to stay around the school longer than necessary. One, it was the perfect place for raiders to set up camp, just like at the supermarket, and she was getting a weird vibe from it. Two, if there were raiders inside she really didn't want to confront them head on. Raiders were sneaky. She pushes the over grown cow away from the door and pulls it open with an unnecessary amount of force. She sees Brittany standing in the entry was of the school. Brittany was frozen. All she wanted to do was peek inside before catching up with the rest of the group. Larry had tried to pull her away, but she entered anyway. At first, all she could see was rubble, and that most of the ceiling looked caved in. However, as she walked a little further into the dark room she notices a giant steel cage. As she got closer to the cage, she noticed it was covered with what looked like white stones, when she got closer she was able to see that they weren't stones at all… they were small bones. She froze, that's when Santana burst through the door. The first thing Santana noticed about the room were the dead dismembered bodies hanging from the ceiling. They dangled from chains and hooks. The next thing she noticed was the Blood smeared across the floor and walls. It looked just like the Super Market. This was definitely a bad place to be.

"Britt…" She grabs Brittany's arms and tries to pull her away, but Brittany stays grounded in her spot. "We need to go Britt!" She pleads as she tries again to drag the blonde towards the entrance door. "Brittany this place isn't safe… we need to go… now!" She looks to where Brittany's gaze was transfixed. The bones were small and had to belong to younger kids.

"There are so many San." Her eyes seem to glaze over with tears. "Who could hurt kids…?" Never in her wildest dreams did she think someone could hurt an innocent child. It was cruel and inhumane. But they weren't living in an humane world.

"I know baby, but we need to go, cuz I'm about 99% sure the people who are capable of this are still in this damn building." She pulls Brittany towards the entrance door, and just as she was about to pull it open, another door to her right swings open. Both Brittany and Santana gasp as a person dressed in spiked clothing burst through it screaming. "Brittany, get outside!" She pushes Brittany towards the door as she shoulders her hunting rifle. Brittany is frozen again. She watches as Santana quickly reacts without hesitation. Santana's first shot hits the raider killing him instantly. Unfortunately she couldn't reload fast enough to shoot the next raider who came in right behind the first. Santana swings the back end of her weapon and tries to hit the raider in the face. The raider only had a bat, but was able to block her attack. The guy was huge, and stood over the younger girls. He looked like a monster, with his spiked clothing and masked face.

"Is that all you got, little girl!" He yells as he swings and hits Santana's hunting rifle out of her hands sending it across the floor. Brittany remembers she had Santana's 9mm. She draws the handgun, and tries her best to hold the weapon steady as she points it at the man. She squeezes the trigger but nothing happens. In fact the trigger doesn't even move. The only thing she can think of doing is throwing the weapon as hard as she could at the man. She throws the weapon at the guy, hitting him square in the head. The man staggers back. It takes him a moment to realize what just happened. "Why you little bitch!" He turns and swings at Brittany. He misses as Brittany jumps just out of reach of the bat, and just as he was about to swing again, a gunshot rings out from behind Brittany. She watches as it impacts the raider's chest. Quinn and Rachel were standing in the doorway. The magnum was smoking slightly. Time seems to finally catch up with the girls.

"Well what the hell are you two waiting for? We need to get out of here before more come!" Quinn yells to get Santana and Brittany to move. Santana quickly grabs the discarded hunting rifle and nine mil. While Brittany grabs the discarded baseball bat from the dead raider. The two of them run through the door just as another raider runs into the room. Quinn quickly closes the door on the raider's face. While Rachel sticks an L shaped pipe through the handle of the two doors. The door rattles as the raider tries to get through it. The four of them were safe, but they didn't waste time waiting around to see how long it would take the raiders to get through the door. The group took off towards the river. They didn't stop running until they were far enough away from Springville, and the school. Rachel was the first to stop. She was so tired she almost collapsed. If Quinn hadn't been there to catch her, she would have. Quinn wraps her arms around Rachel's waist for support. "Hey we need to stop for a moment." Quinn says as she helps Rachel sit down.

"I'm fine…" Rachel breathes out. "I'm just really… really light headed."

"Try not to talk okay. Focus on breathing." She hands Rachel a bottle of purified water.

"What were you thinking Brittany? Why did you go in there?" Santana asks. She was angry. "You can't wander off like that. Do you understand, you could have been killed!" Her voice rises.

Brittany flinches away. She didn't like when Santana yelled at her. "I-I'm sorry… I was just curious, and I didn't think that- I'm really sorry."

"Promise me, you won't do that again." She shakes the girl by the shoulders.

"I promise." She whispers and lets her head fall. Santana sounded so disappointed in her. That's when she feels Santana's arms wrap around her. Pulling her tightly into her body. "San?" She mumbles into Santana's neck.

"Hum."

"I don't know how to use that gun." She felt so useless.

Santana pulls away. "It's okay Brittany I think it was jammed, but the way you threw it at him was awesome. You have one heck of an arm." She tries to reassure the girl. Brittany still clutched into the baseball bat.

"I think from now on I'll stick to using this bat if that's okay." She says as she grips the bat.

"Whatever you feel comfortable with B. Maybe I can teach you to shoot at the next town." They sat in silence as they caught their breath. The four of them enjoy the eerie silence of the midday. Quinn had broken out some food for them to munch on. Rachel fell to sleep shortly after they ate. The drug in her system was starting to make her feel sick when her eyes were open.

"We could put her on Larry." Brittany suggests.

"Um, I'll just carry her Britt, it's fine." She wanted Rachel to conserve as much strength as possible.

"Hey Brittany…" Rachel mumbles from her sleep.

"Huh, what's up Rach?"

"If Larry has two heads, does that mean he needs two names?" Rachel asks. It didn't quite make sense, but it was a valid question. Quinn manages to get the sleeping girl on her back. Rachel's arms wrapped around her neck, and her head rested on Quinn's shoulder.

"Are you sure you don't want to wait until she's able to walk again?" Santana asks. It was going to be hard to carry Rachel across the harsh terrain of the Wasteland. The last thing she wanted was for Quinn's body to give out as well.

"I'll manage, plus the sooner we get to Big Town the better." They walk on, resting every once and a while. The hills seemed to never end. It was exhausting even though they were walking at a slow pace. Rachel woke up hours later, and managed to walk with some support from Quinn. Before they knew it the sun was starting to set, and they still hadn't found Big Town.

"How much further do you think it is Quinn?" Santana asks at the top of a small berm.

"I have no idea. I thought we'd be there by now."

"Shit, I don't think we're going to find this place before it gets dark. Maybe we should consider setting up camp for the night or something." Santana suggests.

"No we should keep moving. Big Town could be just over that next ridge."

"Quinn-"

"No we shouldn't stay in the Waste, there is no way one of us is going to be able to stay awake to keep guard. We need to get to Big Town."

"Okay, here you lead for a little bit, and I'll help Rachel okay." What else could they do but push forward. They walk for another ten minutes before Quinn stops. It was dark now. For all she knew they were lost, hell they might have walked right past the town for all she knew.

"Shit!" She yells. "I don't know where the fuck we're at, and just my luck I'll probably lead us into a nest of rad scorpions or something." Quinn had reached her breaking point, but she wasn't the only one. They were all tired. Even Larry seemed to want to call it a night.

"Quinn… I think I see it." Rachel mumbles.

"Look over there." Brittany points to the direction Rachel's looking. She could make out a faint light emitting from over the next hill.

"That could be Big Town, come on let's go check this out." The group walks towards the light, and sure enough, they start to see the buildings up ahead. "That has to be it." Quinn leads them towards the town. The town was quiet, and they couldn't figure out how to get into the damn place. The walls weren't as high as Megaton, but they seemed well intact.

"Halt, who goes there?" An older man springs out in front of them with his weapon drawn.

"Whoa… we mean you no harm." Quinn says. The four of them all were thinking the same thing. 'Please don't be a raider.'

"What's your business sneaking around Big Town at this time of night? Are you thieves?"

"Oh no sir, we… we're travelers coming from Megaton. We're looking for a place to stay for the night. We have caps to pay for a room if there's any available."

"I see…" the man eyes the group. They looked exhausted, and definitely didn't look like Slavers. "Well come on inside, we'll get you guys situated for the night. Welcome to Big Town girls."

The four of them settled in for the night in the safe walls of Big Town.

End/

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><p>Done for now… again, I'm sorry it took so long for the update, hopefully you like it.<p> 


	8. Big Town Big Trouble

Disclaimer: I do not own glee or its characters… or fallout

Author's notes: thanks for the reviews. I smile every time I capture another reader's interest to this fic. This was the one of the first stories I tried writing, and it's been kicking my ass. I didn't want it to be a crossover, which is how it's starting to form, so you'll be seeing more glee in coming chapters. I'm estimating at least nine more chapters maybe ten before it's complete.

Fallout

**Chapter 8: Big Town Big Trouble**

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><p>The girls were exhausted from trekking across the unforgiving terrain of the Wasteland. Luckily they stumbled across Big Town. The four of them were happy to have a place to crash for the night instead of sleeping in a drainage ditch. They were thankful for the little things. Santana walks in front of the group, followed closely behind their guide. She didn't fully trust him, and trust was something she wasn't handing out long walk across the Wastes left Santana's feet aching. Sure, she was tired, and her body was willing her to rest. Her feet felt raw. All she wanted to do was take off her boots and fall into whichever grungy bed was available. 'Here's hoping.' She thinks as they continued towards the town.<p>

Quinn was supporting Rachel as much as possible. Her arms were around the stumbling girl's waist. Rachel seems to be tripping over everything and nothing. Quinn was sure Rachel was dehydrated. 'I need to get Rachel off her feet.' She thinks as she stabilizes her girl yet again.

Rachel was hurting. That much she could grasp. She was hot, tired, and every step she took sent a bone chilling shock through her entire body. If Quinn hadn't been here to help her, she knew she wouldn't have made it this far. 'Surely I would have been faced down in a ditch by now.' She struggles to keep hold of Quinn as they walk. Brittany was still leading Larry. The two of them had been quiet the entire journey. Brittany was still feeling guilty about the dangerous situation she put the group through back in Springville, and Larry well he was a cow and didn't have an opinion on their situation. They walk the perimeter of the city.

"My name is Pappy by the way." The man who scared the living shit out of them says. He seemed like a good person, but they weren't about to drop their guard around him. Santana was keeping a close eye on the man that seemed to have found them in the dark. "I can't believe you guys were walking around the Wastes without a torch. That's pretty ballzy. You're lucky you didn't fall into a giant ant hole, or wandering into a death claw's den." He says as he leads them towards the lighted entrance of the quiet town. The entry way to Big Town was vastly different from Megaton. In place of the giant steel door like at Megaton, Big Town had an eerie looking moat. The water was dank, and smelt as bad as Larry. The only way across the moat was a very unstable looking bridge made from scrap metal and old car parts.

'It's going to be interesting getting Larry across that.' Santana thought, as they got closer. Just as they reach the bridge, a gunshot rings out. The girls flinch. Santana quickly draws her hunting rifle.

"Aye, Dusty it's just me Pappy!" The man yells across the bridge.

"Shit! Sorry Paps!" A voice yells from the bunker across the bridge. They watch as the trigger happy man crawls from the foxhole. He was dressed from head to toe in armor, and resembled the security guards from the vault. "Good god old man you scared the shit out of me. I thought for sure we were under attack again." The guard eyes the rest of the group. "Who are these people?" Dusty asks as he removes his helmet.

"I found them on my patrol while checking the perimeter. They say their travelers form Megaton... I'm sorry but I didn't catch your names." Pappy says.

Santana shakes her head. It takes her a moment to process everything that was going on. She was that tired. "Oh, um… I'm Santana, and this is Brittany, Quinn, and Rachel." Santana points it each person as she introduces them.

"It's nice to meet you." Pappy says. "We don't get many travelers through here, especially at night. We usually only get the kicked out kids from Little Lamplight, and occasionally Tinker Joe." The group nods slightly, but for the most part they were waiting for Pappy and Dusty to show them to a bed of some sort. Dusty notices Quinn holding Rachel up. Her head was bobbing slightly.

"Hey, is your friend okay?" He asks. The group looks at Rachel.

Quinn noticed Rachel starts to drift more. They needed to get her to a bed as soon as possible. "She really needs to lie down, and maybe a bag of saline if you guys have any?" Quinn says. There was no telling what type of supply this town had. They didn't even know if there was a doctor. Santana knew the girl needed medical treatment, and water wasn't going to cut it. Thinking back to the vault, she could almost see her father systematically evaluating the patient. Rachel was physically weak, and had shown signs of confusion. She couldn't stand without actual support from Quinn, which could be from muscle cramps or spasms. She looked pale and nauseous. She knew Rachel was in trouble, if they didn't help, her body could start shutting down. Apart from that, Rachel could become susceptible to seizures, and as her organs start to fail, she could die.

'That's not going to happen, not on my watch.' She thinks as she visually inspects Rachel. Pappy interrupts her thoughts.

"Red runs the medical clinic in town. We have some supplies, thanks to Tinker Joe. She's usually close by now, but we can see if she's still up. Come on." He motions to the group. "Dusty needs to get back to work anyway." The man led them across the rickety bridge. Larry manages to get across without trouble thanks to Brittany.

"So Pappy, Big Town seems to be a little on edge, don't you think?" Santana follows behind their guide.

"Well it is the Waste little lady. You can't ever get too relaxed especially in a small town like this. Big Town isn't like Megaton we don't have nice high walls with roaming sentries. Hell we barely have walls at all, and I don't know if Dusty counts for security, as you just saw a moment ago, he doesn't have the best shot." He tries to explain. The group is quite as they wander through the town.

"How many people live in Big Town?" Santana asks after a few moments of uncomfortable silence. Pappy stops at a small cottage in the middle of the deserted town. He takes a moment to think about the question.

"Well let's see… there's Bittercup, Dusty, Flash, Kimba, Red, Shorty, Timebomb, Sticky Hands, Sugar, Mercedes, and myself." He lists off some of the people.

"Everyone here has a weird name." Brittany whispers to Quinn. Quinn couldn't help but agree. She was shocked that only nine people reside in the town. Megaton seemed to be overcrowded with people. Hell she remembered seeing people sleeping under some of the building because it was so overpopulated with outsiders.

'Too much people not enough space.' Quinn thinks. 'Why wasn't Big Town as lively with waste landers?'

"More people used to live here but… well, a large group of them moved up north last year." He smiles slightly. Santana gives him the 'what the fuck look' to get him to elaborate. Pappy shrugs, and says. "Let's just say Big Town isn't really a place to put down your roots. Most of us grew up in Little Lamp Light, which is a settlement west of here. We came here after we turned 16 since that's when we're kicked out of triple L. This is really the only place the kids know to come to… it's drilled into their minds while living down in those dank dark caves." Pappy is lost in thought. He pounds on the shack door. "Red you still up!" He knocks again, this time a little louder. From inside you can hear someone walking around followed by the sound of locks unlocking. Finally, the door swings open revealing a middle aged woman standing in the threshold.

'This must be Red.' Santana eyes up the town's doctor. She was wearing a red jumpsuit along with a red bandana and thick black rimmed glasses. In some ways she looked like a doctor, and in other ways she looked like a mechanic.

"I thought I heard gunshots. Please tell me Dusty didn't shoot you, or something?" Her voice is neutral as. He eyes up the group standing behind Dusty. "Who the hell are these folks?"

Dusty lets out a small giggle, "These are some travelers from Megaton. I ran into them while checking the perimeter wall. The small brown-haired girl is in ruff shape Doc. I thought maybe you could help and take a look at her. "The doctor looks at Rachel, who was still awake, but just slightly.

"So I see she looks bad, okay… bring her on in let's see what we can do." Quinn doesn't hesitate to lead Rachel through the threshold of the building. Santana and Brittany were about to follow when Pappy stops them.

"She's in good hands, I can assure you." Red closes the door. "Let's give Red some space to work. I'm sure the blonde can take care of her. In the meantime, let's find you two a place to crash for the night." Santana wanted to argue. Leaving Quinn didn't seem like a good idea, and Red could use some assistance treating Rachel. Just as she was about to say something Brittany yawns. "Come on I think there is a couch open in Town Hall, normally we all sleep in the Common house, but the rest of the town is already asleep. So for tonight town hall will be the best place for you-all."

Pappy leads them to the back part of the establishment. Explaining to them as they walk the different buildings. They tie Larry up to a post next to the Town Hall. Brittany and Santana work quick to strip him of his gear. There was no way they were going to leave their supplies out in the open for anyone you grab. As soon as they're finished and Pappy waves goodbye the two sleepy Vault goers walk into the Clubhouse. There were no words to describe the building they were in. Sure, they had stayed in the shag shack, which was on the verge of uninhabitable. This building was in slightly better condition, but just barely. It had four rooms; one seemed to be set up like an office. It consisted of a desk and chair along with a bookshelf littered with burned books. They dropped the food off in the kitchen litter with old food boxes, but at least the fridge was working. After dumping their gear, Santana leads Brittany into a room with an old tattered red couch. It was the only thing they could use as a bed, and even though it looked like someone had died on it, they weren't complaining.

"Brittany babe… let me help you." Brittany falls back against the couch. Her eyes close as soon as she hits the lumpy red cushion. Santana kneels down in front of her and starts to take off the girls shoes. She wanted to check and make sure her feet weren't as mangled as hers were. Brittany grunts as Santana pulls off one shoe than the other. "Thank god." She mutters to herself after inspecting the girl's feet.

"Ugh San… let's go… go to sleep." Brittany yawns, and blindly reaches for Santana, who was now slowly inching off her own boots.

She tries her best not to gasp in pain as she tears a little more skin from her feet. She didn't want Brittany to see how mangled her feet were becoming. They looked hideous in her opinion. "I'll be right there babe… I'm just going to use the bathroom quick." Santana hobbles to the bathroom, if you could call it that. The toilet glazed with remnants of unknown origins was the first thing to make Santana cringe, and the bathtub was nothing but ceramic rubble. "Gross." 'This whole town is a shit hole.' She thinks.

Brittany stirs awake when Santana walks back into the room. "San…" she opens her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine."

"You're limping."

Santana shrugs. "It's just a blister." Brittany sits up on the couch. She watches as Santana starts to strip out if her leather armor. "They should get better with some air… and maybe some new footwear." Her pants pool at her feet, along with her top. Brittany can't help but watch as Santana makes her way towards the couch. She crawls up the length of the couch and lies behind Brittany. "You should take these off." She tugs at Brittany's clothes. "They smell like Larry." Santana helps Brittany wiggle out of her grungy clothes. "Much better."

The room goes quiet as they snuggle back into the couch. Santana wraps her arms around Brittany and pulls her into her body. "Hey San…"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think… do you think Rachel is going to be okay?" Brittany's voice is quiet.

"Yeah… I think she will be…" The room goes quiet.

"Hey San… are you still mad at me… for today?

"Britt-"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to put everyone in danger, or get Rachel dehydrated. This is all my fault. Please don't be mad at me."

"Britt, Rachel being dehydrated isn't your fault… and I told you before, I'm not mad at you." The room goes quiet again.

"I'm just… I keep messing up, and back at the school, you were in danger, and I couldn't help you. You always say you're protecting me, and you're there for me too… but when you needed my help, when I should have been there to protect you. I choked up... I couldn't even pull the trigger of a handgun. If Quinn hadn't… you could have gotten hurt or killed, and it would have been my fault. I'm useless."

"Britt-"

"No! It's my fault."

Santana puts her hand over Brittany's mouth and rolls her over to face her. She hovers over Brittany.

"Britt… it's not your fault. We talked about this before… but like I said you just can't walk into a building like that, and I know I was a little harsh on you back there, but that's because there is so much that can hurt us out here. I can't lose you… ever." She removes her hand from Brittany's mouth.

"How can you not be mad at me? How can you forgive what I put the entire group through? Anyone could have gotten hurt because of me."

"Because, I love you Britt. I love you. And even though today scared the shit out of me, I'm not mad at you. I told you, you did the next best thing… react. You could have done nothing, but instead you threw that 9mm like a pro."

"But I couldn't actually figure out how to use it." She says with a pout.

"Britt its fine… like I said, it was just a weapons jam. It could have happened to anyone. Look, let's just go to sleep, and tomorrow I will teach you everything I know about firearms, okay?" She kisses Brittany before settling on the couch. The two of them fall asleep seamlessly.

At the clinic

"Bring her in the back." Red tells Quinn. Quinn cradles Rachel in her arms as they walk into the medical shack. Rachel was exhausted. Her body had given out shortly after she and Quinn entered the medical building. Quinn carries her into the back room. The room itself is split into two parts, similar to the clinic in Megaton. There was a surgical room and a patient room. "There should be a cot open next to Timebomb." Red points to the only patient in the room. Quinn lays Rachel down on the cold metal table.

"Quinn?" Rachel says, she sounds confused.

"It's okay baby… the doctor is going to help you." Red walks around the other side of the examination table. In her hands, she has a needle and a bag of fluids.

"It looks like second degree dehydration… or she could be on the brink of having a heat stroke. We need to loosen some of her clothing… untie her boots." They work quickly at getting Rachel's clothing loosen or taken off. In the end Rachel was left in her only her pants.

"Is she going to be okay doctor?" Quinn asks as she watches Red prep the IV. Red was about to stick her when she notices the the track marks on Rachel's arms.

"Is she a druggie?"

Quinn blinks, she didn't know what to say. "Y-yes… no. She was clean… until recently…"

"She started using again?"

"No… not intentionally… she was forced."

"When was the last time she used." Red asked.

"Um… yesterday." Quinn whispers. "I don't know how much… he gave her…"

"Okay… well whatever it was its contributing to her high body temperature. And that increase of body temp is what's putting her at risk for a stroke."

Quinn is shocked. "Can we do anything." Red already has the fluid in Rachel's arm.

"For now we are pushing fluids, no more than two liters to start with. Has she been vomiting?"

"No, she has just been weak. I've been pushing liquids but it doesn't seem to be helping."

"That's because she needs more than just water… we need to lower her body temp and replenish the minerals in the body. Salt may be a dehydrated but they are also important to the body . If we can get her to eat something, it might help. Here message her limbs while I go get some water to help cool down her body." Red leaves the room.

Quinn quickly starts to rub Rachel's legs.

"Quinn… what are you doing." Rachel moans. Her eyes are closed the whole time.

"Well… It seems like I'm promoting blood circulation to your limbs… or something."

Rachel giggles lightly. "So… I'm dying?"

"Shh… you're fine. You're just hot."

"I've heard that before…"

"How can you even be trying to joke at a time like this."

"I don't know…" Red comes back into the room. She carries a basin full of water along with a weird looking package.

"Rachel was it?" Rachel nods. "I need you to drink this please…" she hands Quinn the package.

"What is this? G series recovery? I've never heard of it."

"Well, believe it or not it's a pre-war drink, but it should help."

"The label says it expired…" Quinn looks at the numbers and is shocked. "You can't think this is good to drink do you?"

"Look Blondie… about thirty five percent of the food still found today in the Waste is expired. This is what we have… and it's more than what most towns have, so if you don't think it'll help her then don't give it to her… it'll mean I get to save some supplies for the next injury." The doc shrugged indifference.

Quinn quickly uncaps the drink."Come on Rach sit up a little." Quinn helps Rachel drink the weird looking drink, that Rachel had described as a chalky taste of hell. While Quinn did that the doctor started dabbing Rachel's forehead with a wet rag. "How are you feeling now?" Quinn asks after Rachel finishes off her drink.

"Better… tired but better."

"Her body temp seems to be going down. I'm going to hook up another liter, but I think she's going to be okay. Here you can take over dabbing… I'm going to get some sleep."

"Thank you doctor."

"Look the best thing to do now is get some rest. She needs to build up some strength. I'll be back to check on her vitals in a couple of hours. If you need a place to crash there is a couch in the other room. I'll be down in the basement if you need me." Before Quinn can question Red leaves the room.

"Are you really feeling better Rach, cuz I can get Santana over here too… she might know some things to help you feel better." Quinn dabs Rachel's forehead with a damp cloth.

"That won't be necessary… I'm feeling better really and I have everything I need to make me feel better right here."

"What?"

"Come here." Rachel wraps her hand around Quinn's wrist and pulls her down into a kiss.

Quinn's lips press against Rachel's for a moment before she pulls away.

"You should try and rest… we need to get your strength up again."

"I'm fine Quinn really… I'll be okay."

"Just the same… I want you to build your strength because I don't think we'll be staying here very long. This town seems to be in shambles… they have like nine people staying here."

"Is a woman named Shelby still here?"

"Rach…"

"I know… but she's my mom. I just want to know if she's still alive."

"I know. I just don't like what that woman did to you."

"I do… sure my life has had more downs than ups… but I still have some things that I would never give up. Like my dads. Even though they bought me, I loved them, and they loved me too. I don't regret the time I spent with them. They died protecting me. And if she hadn't sold me I'd never would have met you. Which in my opinion is the greatest, and the best thing that's ever happened to me. You're my light Quinn, you will always be my light."

Rachel kisses her again.

When they part Quinn is in tears. "I still don't like her, but I'm happy I have you. I'm not sure if she's still here. Pappy said a bunch of people left a couple years ago. Maybe she went with them."

"Yeah maybe."

"We can ask around town tomorrow too. Maybe one of these people know, but for now I want you to close your eyes, and try to get as much sleep as possible, okay."

"Fine… but don't leave me… I don't want to be left alone in this room with a man named Timebomb." Rachel says as she closes her eyes. She can hear Quinn move around the room. She opens them and sees Quinn moving a chair towards the examination table.

"I'm going to be here with you all night, and I promise I will protect you from Timebomb."

"My hero." Rachel yawns as she closes her eyes again.

They had made it to Big town, and tomorrow would be the start of a whole new kind of adventure the four of them hadn't experienced. Quinn had so many questions about the town itself. She was convinced that the people in this town were just scraping by to survive. Maybe they could help. Then there was Rachel, she had so many questions about her mother. It wasn't right how Rachel had been sold at a young age, but in the end she wouldn't have met her. If Rachel had stayed in Big Town her mom would have taken her to Little Lamp Light to live. She would have had a different life.

The next morning came way too quick. Or at least Santana thought it was morning thanks to a bright beam of light shining through the rafters and lighting the crappy room. The two of them had slept soundly, well as sound as one can in a new place. Santana was just surprised didn't roll off the couch during the night. She had held Brittany throughout the night, only this morning she woke up with a hand inside Brittany's underwear instead of around the girl's waist.

'It had to be a subconscious thing.' Santana thinks. How else could she explain it if Brittany decided to wake up with her hands down her pants. Slowly Santana starts to remove her hand from the sleeping girls' underwear.

"San…" Santana still her hand. "Your hand is in my panties…" Brittany mumbles.

"I-I'm sorry Britt… I must have… it must have happened while I was asleep." She goes to remove her hand when she feels Brittany's hand slip over her.

"Don't go." She slides Santana's hands lower. Santana's hand stills. "San… you can touch me if you want."

"Britt…"

"I know you said you didn't want to… but if you want to, you know I'm yours. So you don't have to be afraid that I'm going to freak out or something. I will always want to if it's you. You are the only one… I trust you more than anyone I know San."

"Are you sure this is okay."

"Why wouldn't It Be. San you are the only one I want to do this to me." Brittany pulls Santana into a kiss. She can't help but moan when she feels Santana's fingers run through her. The room fills with her moans. "Ba- uh- babe more… please." Brittany moans, encouraging Santana more. She can feel her orgasm building, and just as she was about to get the release she was looking for something bangs on the door.

Santana rolls off of Brittany and falls to the floor. "Shit."

"No… San!" Britt cries. It just isn't humane to leave a person on the edge like that. Santana scrambles to her feet as another loud bang rattles the tin door.

"What the fuck." She scrambles to put on her clothes as the door flies open.

"Gooood morning" an unfamiliar voice comes from the other room. "Hello! Is everyone up?" Before Santana can answer a short blonde skips threw the door into the living room. "There you guys are, I thought maybe you didn't hear me knock or something since you didn't answer or whatever." The stranger says gleefully. "Geez it smells like a whore house in here, where you guys like screwing, or something?" The stranger asks. Brittany sits up on the couch she was still naked from the attempted sexy times. Somehow Santana had gotten her out of her bra without her realizing it. Not that she minded, in fact she was more pissed that they didn't get to finish than embarrassed they got caught. The stranger smirks at the disrobed blonde. Santana on the other hand was embarrassed, and on edge. If this town was anything like Megaton same sex couples wouldn't be taken lightly. In fact she distinctly remembers Quinn saying they would be killed on sight if they were caught in any type of compromising position.

"Um… we… this isn't what it looks like." The stranger gives her the 'yeah sure' look. "It was… um" her mind goes blank.

"Sure it wasn't…" the cheeky blonde says.

"It wasn't. Who the hell are you anyway." Santana pulls on her shirt. Brittany gets up from the couch and collects her undergarments from the broken down television in the corner of the room.

"You can call me Sugar… Sugar Motta, and you're Santana and Brittany from Megaton. I couldn't believe what old man Paps said this morning about finding visitors. So I was like I need to see this for myself. Then I came here, and I guess he was right cuz here you are smudging in the Town Hall. Who would have thunk it. Wait until I tell Bittercup you guys were screwing on her couch. She's going to be pissed. Well anyway since you two are yup and mostly dressed, there is some breakfast being served next door if you two are hungry. I believe Mercedes is making mole rat and eggs."

"Um were not…" Santana looks at Brittany who just finished pulling on her pants. "I guess we'll be right over."

"Great, I'll wait outside for you guys. Just hurry yup, and if you're going to finish what you were doing keep the moans down." Sugar smirks, and goes to leave.

"Wait Sugar… it's okay for us to…" Santana has to think how to put it.

"Bump uglies… yeah go for it. What else are you supposed to do after the apocalypse?"

"It's just the last place we were at wasn't so… accommodating." Santana says

"Big Town tries to not get all nitpicky about sex. I believe the only thing that is frowned upon is masturbation."

"What…?"

"Yeah something like that. Evidently, there's a taboo on pleasuring yourself or something. It's on the radio all the time. Here I'll show you." Sugar skips over to the radio on the bookshelf. She flips the switch and slowly a soft voice comes through the speakers. "This is the Vault Tec channel… it's on a loop or something, here listen."

Soft music plays. Both Santana and Brittany find the device intriguing.

"-You are listening to Vault Tec radio. We are here for you. The next topic on Vault Tec is…" the radio crackles. "Sexual intercourse." A man's voice says. "Welcome to the vault Tec guide to post nuclear intimacy. As a survivor of the nuclear holocaust, you, yes yes you. Will be responsible for the continuation of the human race." Santana raises her eyebrow. 'They want us to do what?' "But how will nuclear war change how we live and love? Here are some important things to keep in mind to insure safe and fun breeding experience. First, we will cover one of the most important things when it comes to finding your mate … Appearance. This like today will be vary important in the future. Proper attire and good grooming are very important. Just because you live in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, doesn't mean you have to look like you do. Be sure to practice good hygiene- down there. Keep your equipment clean, your partner will thank you. Remember that sexually transmitted diseases are organisms. They can mutate too." The radio voice jokes. Brittany and Santana look horrified. "Next we will tackle another important topic to post-apocalyptic relationships… Selection- When selecting a potential mate, be sure your partner possesses all the potential qualities for successful breeding. Sometimes the right approach can make all the difference between a successful first meeting and a fatal one. Avoid Lady Killers and or Black Widows, as these traits tend to be harmful to your health. Before consummating, the act with your partner be sure to set the proper mood for an intimate adventure. Lighting music and a light alcoholic beverage can help turn stale breeding procedures into enjoyable experiences. Tell your partner what you like, and likewise be attentive to the needs of your partners during intercourse. Go ahead and experiment, with all the breeding you'll be doing you'll need to try new things to maintain that spark. Don't be afraid to experiment with anal, BDSM, bondage, fingering, fisting, group sex, hand jobs , lap dances, same sex, scissoring, sensation play, spanking, strap on, and any other wet sex marathon kinks your horny minds can dream up. Finally out the last topic Vault Tec would like to talk about is Masturbation- We at vault Tec encourages you to use your strength when it comes to self-pleasure. Not only is masturbation a waste of precious breeding materials it will stunt your growth and cause you to go blind. Masturbation is a crime against humanity. In conclusion- Remember to breed as often as you can, with as many people as possible. With your help we can repopulate the earth with happy healthy people. This has been helpful advice from your friends at vault Tec." The radio voice dies out.

Sugar turns off the radio. "See… it really only says to not masturbate… but otherwise it seems to encourage sex with numerous partners. Sure technically having sex with the same gender isn't going to repopulate the earth… but who am I to get in the middle of what seems like a healthy relationship." Santana looks at Brittany who was shocked to say the least. "Anyway I'll meet you two outside." Sugar leaves. The two of them wait until they hear the door shut before they say anything.

"Well that was…" Santana walks towards Brittany. She wraps her arms around the blonde and pulls her into a kiss. "Interesting." She says as she pulls away. "I guess we won't have to hide from the town." Brittany hasn't said anything. "Britt babe, are you okay?" Santana was worried. "Britt what's wrong?"

Brittany lets out a groan. "I'm still horny!" She practically screams.

"Well we could try to alleviate some pressure before breakfast." Santana says with a smirk and pushes Brittany back onto the couch. The two of them emerge from the town hall fully dressed, and relaxed sometime later. Brittany was holding Santana's hand and smiling brightly as they walk. Santana had her rifle slung over her shoulder as they made their way towards the mutated cows.

"Hey! Santana, Britt!" A voice calls to them. They turn and see Quinn jogging up behind them.

"Quinn, what happened, what's wrong?" Santana asks as soon as Quinn catches up to them.

"Nothings wrong, at least I don't think it is at the moment. I was looking for you guys, where the hell where you?"

"Pappy sets us up on a couch in the Town Hall." Santana says.

"How's Rachel?" Brittany asks.

"She's fine, well I mean she Isn't fine, but she feels slightly better. She's still resting in the clinic. I've actually been trying to find the Doc too, but she seems to have disappeared."

"Oh Red, yeah she's probably at breakfast with the rest of the town." Sugar pipes up from behind.

"What… who? Who is this?"

"This is Sugar."

"Sugar Motta… It's a pleasure. Well we should probably get over to the Common house if you want breakfast."

"Breakfast?"

"Of course silly. Big Town may be small but we tend to stick together as a community. It's the only way we can survive out here. Everyone looks after each other, or some mumbo jumbo thingy like that." Sugar says while waving her hands around in the air. "So we should hurry. I'm sure Rachel will want us to grab her a plate too." The blonde says as she grabs a hold of Brittany and starts to drag her towards the Common House.

"So… what do you think about the town so far?" Santana asks Quinn. She keeps her voice down as they follow Sugar.

"It's in really ruff shape. They're a small community barely surviving. From what I gathered most of the population packed up last year and moved somewhere else. Rachel thinks her mom might have been one of them."

"Wait what, Rachel has been here before?"

"Yes and no. She was born here but was sold to her dad's at a very young age. She says she doesn't remember much about the place, or her mom for that matter. Only that her name is Shelby, I don't know. She wants me to ask around town to find out more. Why what do you think about this place?"

"It's… a shit hole." Quinn laughs."No really it is… these guys are barely scraping by. I don't think they will be too welcoming for us to stay."

"We could help with security. I mean more strength in numbers right?"

"Yeah, but we'd also be four more mouths to feed. I also have this feeling like they are hiding something from us. I mean if this was a safe place why isn't there more traffic coming through? Why haven't they attempted to repair the damage to some of the buildings? Also judging by the guard last night they all seem a little on edge."

"There was also an injured guy in the medical building. He looked pretty bad."

"Did the doc say what was wrong with him?"

"No… but his injuries looked similar to the guys back in Megaton. Are you limping?"

"Yeah it's the blisters. I'm fine."

"We could get some moleskin for your boots. It could help." Sugar opens the door to the Common House. The four of them walk into the building. As soon as they shut the door they take in the surroundings. The room is filled with beds and mattresses.

"This is where we sleep." Sugar says as they walk into the large room. "Over there is the bathroom… it's the only one that still works in this town. And through here is the kitchen." Sugar leads them. As they walk through the door into the kitchen they notice the group of people. All of which have stopped eating and talking as they walked in. Obviously they walked in on a private matter. Santana didn't like how the townspeople all seem to be eyeing them. "Hey guys… good morning. Sorry it took me so long but I went to meet the visitors. This is Santana and Brittany." Sugar points to them. " Oh and Quinn… and I believe they said Rachel was still-"

"Sugar why the hell did you bring these guys here." A guy says standing up from the table.

"Flash calm down, these are our guest remember… not our enemies." Pappy says.

"No Flash is right.. We are in a war. We shouldn't be wasting food or medical supplies on these… tenderfoots."

"Mercedes is right… we need to be prepared for the next wave of attacks, not taking in outcasts."

"Look what we need to do is leave, we should have left with the rest last year. Then we wouldn't be in this situation." Mercedes says.

"We can't leave. Big Town is our home, and we don't even know if the others made it to safety as it is. For all we know they're dead." Pappy says. A few of the townspeople nod in agreement.

"Well we can't keep doing what we've been doing. This isn't living… and I am sick of feeling like a Rad Roach that is just waiting to be squashed." Mercedes says.

"Excuse me… not to interrupt this debate or whatever… but what the hell is going on here." Santana asks. "What are you guys so afraid of?"

"Super Mutants." Red speaks up for the first time.

"Super mutants?" Santana repeats.

"Supposedly they were created in the Evolutionary Experimentation Program. Which if I'm correct was an experiment assigned to one of the Vaults. They modified strain of FEV used to create these mutants resulted in a new strain of super mutant which, in addition to becoming sterile, grow larger and stronger as they age. According to some Mercs in Megaton, Super Mutants have become a permanent feature of the Capital. They are too dumb to overrun it, but too strong to die off." Quinn rambles.

Red laughs. "Oh they are more than just some text book talk. They are vile evil creatures that want nothing more than to rip you limb from limb, and those are the lucky ones. It is the slow painful deaths that keep you awake at night. These creatures are strong, and organized. Do not underestimate them."

"How do you know so much?" Santana asks.

"Red and Shorty were captured in a raid a couple of years back." Pappy says. "They managed to escape thankfully."

"Just barely… and there were others. We were being held at a police station just across the river. At first we were being held in the jail cells, along with some other wanders. Then one by one they would take us away. The people never came back, but we could hear their screams coming from downstairs."

"Oh god." Brittany says.

"One day we got lucky… one of the guards forgot to lock the cell Shorty and I were in. We were able to escape unnoticed… but after seeing all that. They make the Raiders look like mutated kittens."

"So you are still being… raided by these creatures."

"They come through here once a week. If we see them in time we usually hide…" Red says.

"Last time Timebomb wasn't so lucky." Pappy says.

"The other patient?" Quinn questions.

"He suffered major wounds; we also think there could be some internal bleeding."

"Wait… you think?" Santana says. "Shouldn't you know if he has internal bleeding since you're a doctor."

"I'm not a doctor. I know the things I know from patching up wounds, and reading the two medical books we have. Both of which are pre-war." Red huffs in defense. "Look I'm trying my best with the little I have okay."

"We should pack up and leave before it's too late. Sooner or later the super mutants are going to find us, and pick us off one by one." Mercedes says. "And I for one don't want to be eaten as a snack."

"Where would we go?" One of the townspeople speaks up.

"Big Town is our home." Another person says."

"It's not… don't you get it. We aren't living."

"Mercedes is right," Santana says. "I know I'm not from around here, but I can clearly see that this town is on the verge of being destroyed. And speaking as an outside party I can confidently say, this place is a shit hole."

"San…" Brittany whispers.

"It's true… your houses are falling apart. What you people need to do is build up this town. I don't have much… experience when it comes to Super Mutants, but the way I see it is your town has three options. You can keep hiding like you have been, you can pick up and leave, or you can reinforce this place and fight for what's yours."

"You can't fight super mutants they are too strong." A voice calls her out.

"Then you get stronger weapons. You find or build what or need to survive, and we can help you."

"San… can I talk to you for a sec." Quinn pulls Santana aside. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What?"

"We can't stay here and help them fight… we could get killed. We should leave now." Quinn whispers.

"We can help them, and you and I both know we are capable of doing that. Plus, you know Rachel is in no condition to travel. She is going to be going through withdrawals, and we need her to be healthy enough to travel as soon as she's better."

"San is right Quinn, these people need us. We can't just leave them."

"Fine, so what do we do?" Santana turns back towards the townspeople.

"Look this is what's going to happen. We are going to help you as much as we can. Well start by building up the walls and reinforcing the town's buildings. I saw a junk yard out back you should be able to re-purpose materials there. Quinn I need you and anyone else that has experience building explosives."

"Explosives?" Pappy asks.

"If we set up a perimeter with explosives not only with it kill some of the Super Mutants it will give you guys fair warning of their attack. Quinn here just happens to be a grade A bomb maker."

"I can help you with that." Sugar pipes up. "I've never actually made a bomb, but it sounds like it could be fun."

"Right… fun." Quinn says as she follows sugar out of the building.

"While we start building up our defenses I want the people with guns to be our sentries."

"Why are you helping us?" Mercedes asks as people started to move from the kitchen towards the door. "Most people would just let the waste have us. Why are you sticking your necks out for us?"

"Truthfully I have no idea. I guess I'm just hoping that in return you'll let us stay here until our friend is well enough to travel."

The rest of the day involved a lot of heavy lifting and sweating. They managed to build up the walls higher and even found some razor wire to string across the top. Quinn had managed to make six lunch box mines before the sun started to set. They would have to place them tomorrow since no one wanted to wander the perimeter tonight. Sugar had been a lot of help actually, even though the thought of her making bombs made Quinn cringe. The girl was just too hyperactive to be handling explosives. Rachel spent the day in bed. They moved her into the town hall along with a mattress for her to sleep on. She was feeling a lot better than yesterday, but every time she came outside to help, Brittany was there to usher her back inside. The most important thing that happened today was when Brittany found two old robots in the junk heap. No in the town knew where they came from. In the end, Santana convinced the town to let her repair them. She was convinced they could be used to protect the town if she could figure out how to fix them. At the end of the day, they were all exhausted.

"God dang I'm tired." Quinn exclaims as she sits down in-between Rachel's legs. Rachel starts to rub Quinn's shoulders. "Fuck that's good." She groans.

"Language Quinn." Rachel scolds.

"Sorry… it's just your fingers are magical."

"So are San's." Brittany gleams.

"Britt, remember that conversation about not telling them about our sex life."

"Oh, I wasn't talking about sex… but your fingers were good then too." Brittany winks. Santana rolls her eyes. She was busy fixing a circuit board at the desk. The robots were kicking her ass. She had very little knowledge about them in the first place, but she thought they wouldn't be that complex. She was wrong. "San… you should come to bed. We have another long day tomorrow." Brittany wraps her arms around Santana's neck.

"I know… I know just let me finish this piece and I'll be right over."

"Okay." Brittany kisses her cheek before walking back into the living room.

Three hours later, she finally gives up. 'It just needs a new fusion battery.' She thinks as she slides the circuit board back into the robot. 'Then we can start reprogramming you.' Santana walks from the desk back into the living room. She crawls in behind Brittany and snuggles her face in between the girl's neck breathing in Brittany sent. Tomorrow was a another day in Big Town, and she hoped it would go as smoothly as today.

"Good night San." Brittany breathed.

"Night Britt Britt."

End...

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><p>So I'm ending it here for now. I hope you liked it. Any feedback is welcome. The next chapter will be Big Town part 2<p> 


	9. Big Town Part Two

Disclaimer: I do not own glee or its characters… or Fallout

Author's notes: I realize this story isn't for everyone since it covers some dark topics, but it's Fallout so you can't really expect very fluffy chapters. Anyway, for those of you have been following and enjoying the story thanks for your reviews.

**Fallout**

Chapter 9: Big Town Big Trouble… part two

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><p>"San…" Brittany shakes the sleeping girl lightly. It was already midday and she still hadn't woken up. Brittany shakes her again, this time using a little more force. "San… please wake up." Santana mumbles something in return, but Brittany can't make it out. She pokes Santana's side. Santana grunts and starts to stir from her weird dream she was having about the robot.<p>

"Britt…" she says with a groggy voice. "What is it? I'm still sleepy." Her eyes are still close.

"I need to show you something." Santana rolls back over. She really didn't want to get up if she didn't have to. "Santana… please it's important." She shakes the sleepy girl again. It was no use; Santana wouldn't be going back to sleep until Brittany was done showing her… whatever it was she had to show her. She forces herself to sit up on the couch, which was a lot harder than it should have been.

Santana grumbles as she forces her eyes open. "Okay I'm up…," she says as she rubs the sleep from her eyes. "What did you need to show me?" Brittany quickly hands Santana her pants, prompting her to get dressed quickly.

"You'll have to come with me and see." Brittany pulls on her arm "Come on, its outside." After pulling on her clothes and grabbing her gun, the blonde pulls Santana out the front door of the town hall.

'Rachel and Quinn must already be up.' she thinks. The town itself was rather lively. Most of the townsmen were reinforcing the walls, while the others were reinforcing the buildings. It was slowly coming together. Soon Big Town would be secure and hopefully safer to live in. It all bubbles down to two things, one was the explosives Quinn was busy working on, and the other was weapons for the townspeople to fight with. That's where the robot came in, it not only had a Gatling gun attached to it, but there was a missile launcher. 'We're still going to need to find some ammo for it… maybe the merchant will know where to find some?' Santana thinks. She hadn't realized where the blonde was taking her until they were officially outside the walls of Big Town. "Britt, where are you taking me." She was worried the blond had ventured outside the confines of the town without her. It was another hot day in the wastelands… thanks to the unstable atmosphere. Santana tries to focus on her surroundings and not the blonde who was hopping around excitedly. They were heading towards the river that much Santana was certain… but there was nothing out here but old worn down buildings.

"I left him right around here." Brittany says as she rounds the corner of a building. "There you are Lord Tubbington!" She squeals with delight. Santana freezes the moment she sees the giant creature standing in front of them. The thing had to be taller than both of them.

'What in the Fuck?' Santana's eyes bulge.

After the initial shock of seeing such a beast, Santana goes into protection mode. In one swift movement she grabs Brittany and pulls her backwards, while at the same time, she pulls out her 9mm. 'Not that it would do much for this thing.'

"San! What are you doing!?" Brittany screams as she tries to force Santana's hand down.

"Stay back Brittany, I won't let it hurt you."

The monster growls at Santana. Its massive canines were dripping with saliva and its breath smelt like death.

"No San he's good." Brittany tries again to get Santana to lower her weapon.

"It's not good... Its… it's a monster." Brittany wriggles away from Santana and jumps in front of her and the Yoa Guai.

"Lord Tubbington is good." She protests again. "And he saved me from a crazy fish creature this morning!" Brittany yells. Santana lowers her weapon.

"What?" she can't believe what she's hearing… this creature was good… the damn thing looked like It was about to tear her to shreds.

"I was attacked this morning by a creature living in the river." She says calmly before Santana can raise her weapon again.

"Brittany… what were you doing out here by yourself." Santana all but yells.

Brittany flinches… which of course makes the giant creature behind her roar. "Easy lord T…" she calms the creature down by rubbing its head. The damn thing sounds like it was purring. "I woke up and wanted to help like everyone else. So sugar said I could come with her to the river because she was on water duty… and like they have to collect it every other day or something. So I said sure I'd help her. So we grabbed a guard and went to the river, then like out of nowhere I heard this sound… and then the guard started firing at the water, and in all the chaos Sugar ran back to the camp… and the guard must have thought I went with her, but really, I was hiding behind a rock. The guard must have killed the one because when I came out of my hiding place there was a weird death crab looking creature on the shoreline. Then as I was leaving I heard the strange noise again, turns out those Mirlurks hunt in packs because there were three more coming from the water… than they started chasing me… I didn't think I could make it back to camp but just as I reached these building Lord Tubbington here jump them. He saved my life, and look, he's so well behaved. Aren't you big guy?" Brittany starts to scratch behind the creature's ears making it 'purr' again.

Santana was shocked. It was almost like Brittany couldn't go outside without trouble finding her. "Brittany you really need to be more careful. You should have woken me up this morning so I could have come with you."

"But you were up really late last night working on that machine. I didn't want you to be sleepy, plus I was safe, thanks to lord Tubbington." She pets the large, grotesque creature.

Santana may not like the creature, but it did save Brittany, so it couldn't be that bad right. Santana walks closer to the animal, but stops as soon as Lord Tubbington growls at her.

"Hey lord T. It's okay, Santana is a friend. He's just going to need to warm up to you is all, aren't you big guy." The creature snorts at Santana.

"Whatever…" Santana couldn't help but feel jealous of the giant bear like creature getting his head rubbed. "We should probably get out of here B, before those Death Crabs come back." She goes to grab Brittany's hand and pull her back towards the town.

"Wait San… we can't leave Lord Tubbington here." Brittany pulls away.

"WE can't?"

"Of course not he would get lonely and he might get hurt out here all by himself. What if those Super Mutant things attack him or something?"

"Brittany I'm sure this thing can take care of itself."

"We need to bring him with us… please San, I promise I'll keep him out of trouble, and I'll feed him every day."

"You what to bring him into the town? Britt how in the world are we going to convince those… those people to let us bring a murderous creature into their town."

"Lord Tubbington isn't murderous… he's protective, and we could sneak him in or something. I know that wall by our house hasn't been fortified yet… all we need to do is get him over and hide him in our house."

Santana shakes her head in disbelief, "Britt… there is no way that is going to work., and what about Quinn and Rachel, shouldn't they get a say in all of this."

"Rachel won't mind… she likes animals."

"I'm sure she does."

"Please San! I really want to keep him." She gives her the puppy eyes. "And he did save my life." If you didn't think it was possible to sneak in a 6 foot creature into a secure town unnoticed you would be wrong. Somehow, be it sheer luck or divine intervention by whatever powers that be, they managed to sneak the giant creature into the bustling town. Brittany had managed to find a large tarp to drape over Lord Tubbington to help hide him while Santana prayed they wouldn't get caught. She also was able to distract the guards as they entered the town while Brittany leads the Yao Guai in.

Once lord Tubbington was in their current home the two of them exhaled.

"See that wasn't that hard." Brittany breathes, as she pulls off the giant tarp in order to pet lord Tubbington. "Was it lord it wasn't, no it wasn't. Ah you are such a good boy aren't you?" Brittany coos.

"Britt we were almost caught… twice… by the same person."

"Sugar totally believed it was a pile of garbage following us San…"

"Whatever… just make sure it… he stays out of trouble." Santana goes back to repairing her robot. She can hear Brittany in the living room talking to the new pet. It sounded like she was trying to teach it how to shake or something. It wasn't until she finished piecing back the last circuit board that all hell broke loose in their place. "There all done."

"Holy shit… Santana!" Quinn's voice screams from the living room.

"It's okay Quinn, he's not going to hurt you." she hears Brittany say. Santana reluctantly gets up and walks into the living room to see the show off between Brittany and Quinn. Quinn had her knife out in one hand and a grenade in the other ready to strike the giant out of place creature in the room. Brittany on the other hand stood her place in front of the beastly creature shielding it from the other blonde.

"Relax Quinn…"

"Relax, are you serious there is a freaking Yao Guai standing in the living room for crying out loud!" Quinn flails her arms around.

"I can see that Quinn… I help smuggle the damn thing inside. This is Brittany's new… um pet."

"Lord Tubbington." Brittany says with a giant smile. "I found him in the wastes this morning down by the river… he saved me from a giant water monster crab thingy. Lord Tubbington this is Quinn, she is our bomb making friend and is Rachel's… the girl I was telling you about… girlfriend. She isn't bad… I promise." The creature seems satisfied that Quinn wasn't going to hurt him or Brittany and goes back to its previous position by the couch.

"Sooo we are just taking in anything that can kill us now or…" Quinn mumbles...

"Lord T. Wouldn't hurt a bloatfly… unless the bloatfly hurt him first. He's really nice, I was teaching him how to sit… do you want to see? Lord Tubbington… Sit." Brittany points to the ground and like magic, the giant creature plants its hind end on the rug. "See he's super smart." Both Quinn and Santana seem a little surprised. It takes a moment for Quinn to collect herself and focus on what she originally came here to do.

"I uh… need to talk to you for a moment San." Quinn follows Santana into the back office.

"What's up?"

"I was just going to tell you that we were all done setting charges throughout the town… I even rigged up some Nuka grenades for some of the people in town."

"Wow that's good."

"Yeah, I was also talking to Mercedes and she said she would talk to Tinker Joe about scavenging up some missiles for your robot… but she didn't know how long it would take before he could find some. Okay I can't do this… are you really serious about that giant monster in our living room."

"Yes… frankly having a giant monster in the house that could literally tear my face off at any moment freaks me out… but you saw it out there… it seems domesticated to some point."

"Really?" Quinn doesn't believe what she's hearing.

"Okay fine, I don't want him here, but you try telling Brittany no. It's impossible to do. The best thing I can do now is let her keep it until it somehow dies. Who knows maybe it'll come in handy at some point?" 'One can only hope.'

"Ever the optimist. Well I should go and check up on Rachel… she's been in the clinic all day with Red. I should probably go see how she's doing… and warn her that the place we were sleeping has been taken over by a giant flee ridden creature."

"Hey, how is she doing by the way? I haven't seen her in a while."

"Well… I'm not really sure… she's so distant. I can't tell If she's struggling or not. The first time we went through this she was bedridden for weeks, this time she seems… well stronger I guess."

"Maybe she's able to deal with it since she's already gone through it once."

"Yeah… maybe. I guess we will see, won't we." Quinn goes to leave. "Oh, and Santana… I really think you should tell the rest of the town about… Lord Tubbington…"

"Yeah yeah… I'll get right on that as soon as I finish this bad boy." She turns the robot on. The machine makes a whizzing noise then pops and turns back off. 'Piece of shit.'

"Good luck with that."

Quinn makes her way to the clinic, inside she finds Rachel lying on one of Red's cots. Her eyes were closed and she was wrapped in multiple blankets. Quinn quietly makes her way next to Rachel, she reaches out to touch her forehead, and as soon as she does Rachel's eyes open.

"Mnnhnm hey baby." Rachel's voice sounds rough.

"Hey… I didn't mean to wake you… I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"It's fine… I was just resting my eyes. They kind of hurt today."

"Do you want me to turn off the lights for you? I don't think red will mind."

"That sounds great, thank you." Quinn walks over and shuts off the lights.

"How does that feel, better?"

"Much."

"So besides the vision, how are you feeling? You haven't been throwing up or anything, have you?"

"No, but I really haven't had much to throw up… but I don't feel nauseated. I'm just a little cold, to tell you the truth, hence the blankets."

"Here, skooch over and we'll snuggle." Quinn lays down next to Rachel in an attempt to warm the brunette. She pulls Rachel against her front as tightly as possible. "Rachel… you're burning up." Quinn whispers in Rachel's ear. Rachel nods.

"I had a feeling that was the case… but I'm so friggen cold for some reason."

"We should be trying to cool you down." Quinn goes to sit up.

"Wait… I'm fine really…"

"Rachel… it's dangerous to be running a temp… you could die if we don't get it down."

"She's fine." Red walks into the room carrying a bag of fluids. "I checked her temp while she was sleeping earlier… she's running a mild fever… a normal side effect, it's just her body trying to readjust. Here sit up and let me push this bag of fluids through you." Red preps Rachel's arm, Rachel gasps when the needle goes into her vain. "I would have thought you'd be used to needles." Rachel can't help but look away.

"I think that will be all doctor." Quinn seethes. Red shrugs then leaves again. "What a rude bitch."

"Quinn… please don't swear" Rachel lays back down on her cot, pulling Quinn with her.

"No… where does she come off judging you… she has no right."

"It's not like she's wrong. I should be used to needles. I've used them for how long."

"Shh… Rachel don't talk like that. Remember who you are, you aren't the drugs… you have never been." Rachel can't stop the tears from falling. "Hey… babe don't cry everything is going to get better."

"I know… it's just sometimes I can't believe how lucky I am to have met you… sometimes it seems like it isn't real. Like it's just some kind of bizarre dream that I haven't woken up from yet, you know."

"Shh… I will always be there for you… and so will Santana and Brittany. We're all a family now… and we will all watch each other's back."

Rachel can't help but smile at the thought. 'Her family' they were the greatest thing she could ever wish for.

"Speaking of family… you'll never guess what Brittany brought into our place today."

"Really… what did she find?"

"Um… I think I'm going to have her tell you… but first why don't you just close those pretty brown eyes and sleep for a while."

The secret of lord Tubbington didn't last very long, thanks to a very loud mouthed individual. Sugar. She had walked in while Brittany was feeding lord T. And pretty much told every single person in town in a matter of minutes. It was a very stressful situation, considering everyone pretty much said that the thing needed to leave. In the end, Brittany agreed that she would take him outside the walls of big town as long as they promised not to shoot him on patrols.

"I'll be back to feed you later tonight, okay Lord T." Brittany scratches behind the creature's ears. "They just don't understand how great you are, but don't worry I know I can change their minds… somehow." Santana was watching Brittany from a few feet away, she was a little jealous at how much attention the creature was getting from her girl, but at least she wouldn't have to worry about it eating her while she slept.

"Come on B… we should get back inside, I still have to finish that robot tonight."

"Okay… bye lord T." she kisses the creature. Lord Tubbington tries to follow them back into the town, but Brittany manages to get him to stay. As they were making their way into the town Quinn stops them.

"Hey… so I heard they made Lord T leave."

"Yeah… but he's right outside the walls." Brittany says. "I can't believe everyone thinks he's dangerous. I was really looking forward to introducing Rachel to him."

"Yeah… I was going to wait and have you tell her at dinner, but Red pretty much was yelling it in the clinic, so now Rachel knows." Quinn says.

"Aw man… that was the one thing I was looking forward to today." Brittany pouts.

"Anyway… Rachel is back in the clubhouse, and I was hoping you might want to keep her company while I go and grab her some food, she says she misses your hugs." Brittany's face lights up; she hadn't seen her friend all day.

"Go ahead Britt… I'll go with Quinn and get us some food." With that, Brittany gives Santana a kiss on the cheek and bounds off towards their living quarters to see Rachel. Both Quinn and Santana wait until she's safely inside before heading towards the communal kitchen in the common house.

"So, is Rachel feeling any better now?" Santana asks.

"She's fine… well she says she's fine…"

"But?"

"But… she was running a temperature after I talked to you… she said she was fine though… than that dick of a doctor said some really fucked up things. I don't know… I just what her to see how great she is, you know." Santana nods.

Meanwhile back in the club house Brittany bursts through the door and practically tackles Rachel in an embrace on the couch.

"Rachel!" she pulls Rachel into her lap like an oversized teddy bear.

"Hey Britt Britt. I'm guessing Quinn told you that I was missing you today huh."

"She did… and I missed you too. How are you feeling?" Rachel takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. This was Brittany after all, there would be no use lying to her, and in a weird way Brittany was the only other person that could relate to what she was going through.

"I'm… um… Britt?" she squirms out of Brittany's hug to face the blonde. "I want… I need to show you something… but you have to promise me you won't tell Quinn."

"But what about…"

"Or Santana." Rachel pleads as she interrupts the blonde who was now looking extremely worried. "Promise me Brittany."

Brittany could tell Rachel needed this, she needed her trust, and above all else, she needed for someone who could relate to her. "I promise Rachel… I won't tell." Rachel then slowly lifts off her long-sleeved shirt. Brittany gasps instantly. "Rae Rae… what happened?" Rachel's shoulder blades and forearms where scratched to the point of bleeding. There was even a spot on her rib cage that was starting to look like it was being rubbed raw.

"I can't stop Brittany… it feels like… like a million spiders are crawling under my skin."

"Rachel we need to tell Quinn or at least Santana, I'm sure they need to be cleaned." Brittany says as she stands up. Rachel grabs her arm to stop her from leaving.

"No… Brittany please. There is enough going on right now… Quinn is stressed out enough thanks to me. I don't want to worry her any more than necessary."

"Rachel… she's going to find out sooner or later, and she's going to be pissed that you didn't tell her what was happening."

"I know… but, I just… I can't tell her right now."

"But you will tell her, won't you?" Rachel nods. "Good, I promise I won't tell her. However, you need to let me clean these for you at least. I'm sure Santana has some disinfectant in the medical bag." Brittany gets up and goes into the back room where they were currently storing their gear. It didn't take her long to find what she was looking for. When she walks back into the living room Rachel was scratching at her ribs again. "You have to stop Rachel… they are getting deeper." Brittany says.

"I can't it… so… it's like it's burning ... Burning my skin." Brittany sits back down, and starts cleaning the scratch marks.

"What else have you been experiencing that you haven't told anyone." Brittany asks as she slowly cleans Rachel's shoulder.

"Other than this… just this weird craving to make this all stop… my head feels like it's being ripped apart. My emotions are going every which way, one moment I feel fine then the next I feel like everything is rushing in on me. Like I'm being crushed by this invisible force, but I know that there is one thing that could dull it… if only for a minute."

"Rachel…"

"I know… it's not worth it. I've been through this once. I just never thought I would have to go through it again."

"Rachel… I know you are getting sick of hearing this… but you are strong, Quinn knows it, Santana knows and, hell even Lord T, Larry and I know it… now it's up to you to believe in it. What you are going through is all mind over matter, it hurts physically and mentally but just like before you will get through it, even if I have to clean out your scratches until you believe it, okay?" Rachel nods. "There all done… now try not to scratch… or I'll make you wear gloves." Brittany jokes.

"Thanks Brittany… for everything." Just as Rachel pulls back on her shirt, the door opens.

"I hope you're hungry for mirelurk cakes." Quinn says as she enters the room with a plate full of food for the four of them. "And for you miss vegetarian we have vegetable kabobs, and some sort of fruit juice."

"Thanks babe." Rachel kisses Quinn when she hands her the food.

"So did Brittany tell you about her new pet?" Rachel shakes her head no. "She hasn't… what have you two been talking about then?" Rachel glances at Brittany.

"Sex tips mostly… right Rachel." Brittany chirps as she bites a bit of Mirlurk.

"Um… yes I was just informing Brittany on my favorite positions… you know the one when I had you bent over the kitchen table." Quinn blushes uncontrollably.

"Rachel!"

"What, if I remember correctly that's about all you could say in that position too…" Brittany laughs as Santana covers her ears.

"Too much information." Santana mutters as she grabs her food and makes her way back to her robot.

"I agree with Santana, let's not talk about our sex life in front of these guys, like ever again."

"Okay fine… so Brittany tell me all about this creature I've heard so much about."

"Well his name is Lord Tubbington…" by the time they were eating Brittany had successfully described Lord Tubbington to Rachel. She even offered to take her outside the walls to introduce her officially, but was immediately told 'no' by both Santana and Quinn. Evidently, 10 pm meant you weren't allowed to venture out into the waste. Rachel promised Brittany that they would be able to see Lord T. Tomorrow, which made Brittany happy. Rachel was the only one that seemed just as enthusiastic about the creature as Brittany was. Shortly after dinner Rachel, Quinn and Brittany pretty much called it a day and decided it was time to go to bed. Brittany couldn't help but frown when she watched Rachel leave the room in order to change, while Quinn on the other hand seemed to change in the middle of the room. Brittany knew Rachel was just trying to hide her scratch marks from Quinn for as long as possible. She couldn't help but frown when Rachel and Quinn snuggled into one another on the floor matrices as they turned out the living room lights. Where was her snuggler?

Santana was just finishing the final components on the robot. By the time she finished it was well past midnight, according to her Pipboy anyway.

"So are you all finished?" Brittany asks her as she walks into the room stretching. Santana grabs her weapon off the wall as she stifles a yawn.

"Yup… I'll test it out tomorrow to make sure it works… but it's all done."

"That's good" Brittany whispers… she really didn't want to wake up the other two girls who were fast asleep in the room, but she also wanted to talk to Santana. "Are you going to come to bed now?" Brittany asks when she noticed Santana starting to move to the front door.

"I can't… I promised Kimba I would take her patrol in exchange for a combat shotgun so I should probably head out and relieve whoever is on right now."

"Oh… okay." Brittany rolls back over, she didn't want to seem like it was a big deal that Santana didn't seem to want to sleep with her, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel a little sad that Santana was again too busy for her.

"I'll be back before dawn… okay? Santana whispers as she makes her way out the door. She would give anything to be able to relax alongside Brittany for an hour, but she couldn't, not yet anyway. Until she was finished, preparing for the inevitable war that was coming their way. The night was cool; it sent a chill through her body as she makes her way towards the guard gate, now reinforced. As she got closer to the gate she noticed it Bittercup was currently on guard duty. Santana hadn't really talked to the girl but the word around town was the girl was kinda strange, but apart from being extremely pale and kind of girly, the girl didn't seem too weird. "Hey… I'm here to relieve you." Santana says as she stops in front of the girl. Bittercup looks up at Santana with confusion.

"I thought Kimba was up after me."

"She was, but I'm taking her place tonight in exchange for one of her combat shotguns." Santana explains.

"Nice." Bittercup stands from the lawn chair. "It's Santana right?" Santana nods. "Well Santana, care for a smoke?" Bittercup pulls out a pack of cigarettes and offers them to Santana, who is a little hesitant at first. "Oh come on, you're more likely to be killed in the wastes then by cigarette smoke. Trust me you'll need them to past the time and keep you awake."

"You have a point there." Santana says as she lights up one of the cigarettes and takes her first drag. She can't help but cough.

"Yeah… they are kinda expired, every once in a while you get a bad one, but they're still the best way to relax and relieve stress. Well one of the best ways. Your single right?" Santana shakes her head no. "Oh right… I forgot you and the blonde are together, sugar told me that she walked in on you two bumping uglies. I use to date Pappy… well actually, I came here with him because we left Little Lamplight at the same time, but then I dumped him for Flash. Great guy, except he has no game, now I'm dating Timebomb, which was going good until he got hurt… I'm thinking about dumping him since he is so damaged. Literally. It's too bad your taken, I would love to bump uglies with someone whose not from Big Town." Bittercup says in a low voice.

"Are you hitting on me?" Santana asks. 'Who does this girl think she is?'

Bittercup shrugs. "Maybe… anyway I should go I still need to catch some moon rays and work on my really great moon tan I have going on. Keep the cigs I'll just mooch off of Pappy." And with that, Bittercup slinks away into the night.

'Weird, no wonder people said the girl was crazy.' Santana thinks as she takes a seat on the bridge. The cigarettes helped more than she could have thought, they not only kept from nodding off but they also seemed to make her more relaxed. She was on edge throughout her shift half expecting something to pop out at her at any moment. For some reason she just had a feeling, that something bad was about to happen. It wasn't until three in the morning that she dropped her guard.

03:00am

"Hey I'm here to relieve you." a voice snuck up behind her. Santana looks over her shoulder to see Kimba walking her way.

"Hey… I thought you had the night off, since I took your shift." Santana stamps out a cigarette; it was her fifth one tonight.

"You took mine, but I traded Pappy for his… the guy looked like he needed a break as well… plus I just slept all night so I refreshed and ready to go." Kimba says. "Here I brought you this as a promise." Kimba unslings a combat shotgun from her back. Santana was shocked that the girl was actually going to keep her end of the bargain, "go on take it… I traded for an assault rifle the other day… so I won't be needing her anymore." Santana takes the weapon, she notices a scripture etched in the side of the butt stock.

"Kindness?" Santana runs her fingers over the letters.

"Oh… yeah… you know that pre-war saying 'Kill'em with kindness' I thought it was a great play on words. You get it, right?" Kimba says lightheartedly. Santana couldn't help but smile\. It was kind of funny. "Anyway… there I only had a few rounds left, but she's in good condition… you might want to try trading in that piece of shit hunting rifle for some ammo."

"Thanks Kimba. I'm sure she'll work great." Santana slings the rifle. "I'm going to go and catch some Z's before the sun rises." She says as she makes her way back towards the town hall.

Brittany groans when she feels Santana's arms wrap around her. "Mhnn San?"

"Shh Britt Britt it's still really early… go back to sleep." Santana murmurs into her ear as she snuggles into the blonde.

"Mkay… night San."

06:34 am

Santana is startled awake by a noise coming from outside.

"Did you hear?" Quinn's voice calls from behind her.

"Yeah… it could have been…" They both sit up when they hear an explosion erupt from outside followed by gunfire.

"That was one of my trips for sure." Quinn says as she grabs her weapon. Santana rushes into the den together robot online. "Rachel, wake up!" Quinn shakes the brunette awake. "We need to get moving."

"What's happening…" Brittany pulls on her clothes. She looks towards Santana who was busy rushing around the room. "What's going on."

"We're under attack." Quinn explains.

'It is as good as time as ever to test it' Santana thinks as she boots up the robot.

"Santana we need to get outside and help them." Quinn yells at her… outside they could hear a multitude of gunfire erupting.

"Almost… there it's on…" The robot comes to life. "Activating primary function."

"Primary function activated." It echoes in return, before bursting through the back door.

"That could have gone better." She then hears the unmistakable sounds of the robots Gatling gun. "At least it can shoot"

"Santana.. We need to go now!" Quinn yells. Santana grabs her combat shotgun and follows the group out into the town.

"We need help at the gate!" one of the town's people yells, just as a rocket hits one of the buildings.

"Shit!" the four of them find themselves face down in the dirt. It was a war zone, and for a moment, Santana was frozen in shock. Then that moment past, and reality set in. She needed to protect Brittany, that's all that mattered.

She quickly helps her blonde to her feet and pulls her into cover.

"No Quinn, I'm not leaving you." she hears Rachel's voice plead next to her.

"I don't want you out here… you need to be somewhere safe."

"I can help… just give me a weapon and I will fight." Quinn shakes her head.

"If you want to help you will do as I say and go to the clinic. Red should be there, probably treating the injured in the basement. Go there and don't come out until you hear the gunfire stop." She pleads. Rachel wants to argue, but there was no use. Santana watch as Rachel disappears into the town towards the clinic as Quinn charges towards the main gate.

Brittany looks worried.

"Everything is going to be fine." Santana reassures her. "I want you to go find Rachel… stay with her… keep her safe. I know she seems like she's alright but she's still recovering." Santana explains. She then heads Brittany her 9mm. Brittany hesitates taking the weapon.

"I don't want you to leave." She says.

"They need my help… I promise nothing is going to happen to me… okay?" Brittany nods. "I love you." she kisses Brittany lightly on the lips.

"I love you too." Brittany says.

"They're coming over the Back Wall!"

"Now go…" Santana watches Brittany disappears into the same building Rachel had went into before turning her attention to the war happening all around her. She quickly rushes to the back of the town to help stop the mutants from flanking them. In the corner of her eyes, she makes out the robot just outside the city walls firing on a group of super mutants. She couldn't help but smile, it was a relief to know the damn thing worked. However, she quickly refocuses on her own surroundings as she rounds the corner of the building. The first thing she sees is Bittercup going hand to hand with a giant super mutant wielding a sledgehammer. Buttercup was firing her 10mm pistol at the large creature trying her best to kill the damn thing. Only the small-caliber bullets seemed to ricochet off the creature's flesh. The creature swings its weapon at the girl catching her and sending her to the ground, giving Santana an opening to try out her new weapon, she quickly steps in front of the down girl, shoulders her weapon, and pulls the trigger. The kick of the shotgun was impressive. Santana aims for the creature's head , and before the creature realized she was even there Santana had gotten off two rounds into its face, the third shot made its head explode completely, sending bits, and pieces across Bittercup and her. The creature's body crumbles to the dry dusty ground with a thud.

"Gross." Bittercup says as she stands back up.

"You could say that again. Are you okay?" Santana notices Bittercup holding her arm. She took a pretty gruesome hit from the monster.

"I'm fine… the big lug got a good shot on me, but I'll be fine."

"We need more bodies at the gate!" Santana quickly rushes towards the front of the compound. She yells at Bittercup to stay back, and to call for help if the creatures tried to flank them again. After which Santana quickly took off towards e front of the town. Right away she notices the abundance of dead super mutants right outside e gate, 'at least there aren't any dead town's people amongst them.' Quinn seemed to be leading the group, keeping them in order, and having very well organized suppressing fire.

"There you are Santana… I thought you got lost." Santana squats down next to her.

"No just delayed.. Mutants were trying to scale the back wall… Bittercup was back there but… Well I'm here now, so what do we got."

"We just pushed back another wave of them a few minutes ago… they seem relentless, every time we think we beat them back, another wave hits us harder than the first. Also from what I could hear, most of the trip wires have been triggered, so as far as anymore advance warnings…"

"Have you seen the robot?"

"Yeah… damn thing whizzed past here after those Bastards… haven't seen him since. Hell I've even seen Lord Tubbington take a few of those Bastards out."

"We have another wave coming in… " Kimba yells just as a rocket explodes behind them… hitting one of the post buildings in the process.

"Shit…kay, we need to flank these fuckers before they've blast us to hell. All we need to do is outflank them. Sugar, Mercedes you'll be with me, while the rest of you focus on suppressing fire. Once we get into the right positions switch fire and we'll suppress through. Questions? Quinn you're in charge of the main line." the townspeople all seemed to understand what was supposed to happen. "Great… let's go" and with that the rest of the town opens fire on the now visible Mutants cresting the hill, giving Santana the opportunity to streak across to cover along with the other two girls, who both had semi-automatic weapons with. The girls easily snuck along the cover of the rundown buildings heading towards the gunfire coming from the west. Santana singles for the girls to get down when they see the massive hoard of mutants on the other side of the buildings. And from the looks of them, they had some heavy looking weapons… including the rocket launcher, they also had another massive looking mini gun amongst the hoard. But other than that, the rest mostly had sledgehammers and boards with nails. Santana signals for the girls to open fire when a giant explosion goes off in the crowd of monsters. Out of nowhere the security robot appears, and blasted the majority of the group with its Gatling gun. 'That's right, go robot.' But just as she thought they might not have to ambush the remaining mutants, that her robot could handle it, a rocket hits it, blowing it into smithereens. "Shit… now!" luckily the robot seemed to have taken out most of the muties, and left the rest injured. There were a few up and walking around including the one with the rocket launcher. That was the closes one too them, and she intended to kill it before it could reload. The ambush seemed to catch the rest of the group off guard as the three of them seemed to take out the group closest to them. Santana was sprayed with blood as the head of the super mutant who was holding the rocket launcher exploded, but just as she thought they had won, she feels a sharp pain hit the side of her head, followed by total darkness.

Back in the basement of Red's clinic, Rachel and Brittany were forced to stand by and listen to the sounds of war being waged above them. Rachel paced nervously back and forth, while Brittany sat on a nearby old medical gurney. Both of them seem to flinch every time they heard an explosion.

"This is crazy… we should be out there helping them. I mean I can help. Just because I'm going through some withdrawals doesn't mean I'm handy capped. I am very capable of pulling my own weight, I mean hello, It's not like I haven't killed a man before, and these aren't even human, which you would think would make it easier." Rachel notes.

"Rachel she just wants to make sure you're safe." Brittany tries to justify.

"She's always trying to make sure I'm safe, but what about her safety. Then she expects me to not be there to watch her back."

"You know she needs to have her mind focused on what's in front of her. I think if you were out there she wouldn't be able to make quick decisions, she would be too worried about you."

"Come on Britt you can't possibly be thinking that you would rather be down here while Santana is risking herself." Rachel turns to see Brittany looking at her hands in her lap. "Britt?"

"I am really worried about her, and it's killing me sitting down here, but maybe it's better that I'm out of her way. I mean, I don't exactly have a good track record of being useful, most of the time I seem to put her in more danger than protecting her from it. I mean, I walked right into that school like it was nothing, and in the end she could have gotten killed just because I wasn't thinking about the consequences. I don't think I'd be very much use out there. I mean I don't even know how to fire a gun. I'm useless."

"Britt… you don't give yourself enough credit. People make mistakes, and it's not like you've been in the waste that long. Quinn and I have spent our whole lives out here… but you and Santana , it has to be a culture shock seeing the real world so different from the vault. I'm actually surprised you two have made it as far as you have."

"Well that's all thanks to you and Quinn-"

"Wait Britt, hold that thought."

"How do I do that?"

"Just… what's wrong with this situation." It takes them both a moment to realize what was going on. "It's quiet."

"The guns have stopped." With that realization, they both run to the basement door only to quickly stumble up the stairs. On the main floor of the clinic, they were met with an eerie silence. "Where's Red?"

"Outside?" Rachel suggests and heads towards the door. They both peek themselves outside, hoping that they don't come face to face with any super mutant. Luckily as they poked their heads outside they see Red walking back towards the clinic, she was helping Dusty walk, and behind her and Dusty, Bittercup followed still holding her arm.

"Everything's okay girls you can come out. The mutants are gone… for now anyway." Red says as she pushes past them. "We were lucky this time, no major injuries."

"Wait… Red have you seen Quinn and Santana?" Rachel asks.

"They're up by the main gate." Dusty answers for Red. With that the girls quickly take off towards the front gate. Soon enough Rachel spots Quinn at the front gate talking to some of the town's people.

"Quinn..." she practically tackles the girl. "You're okay."

"Of course.. Everyone's fine… it got pretty crazy at the end, but then all of a sudden they were gone."

"Wait where's Santana." Brittany questions. She didn't see her anywhere amongst the crowd. That's when she notices Mercedes limping over the draw bridge towards them.

"Oh my god Mercedes… what happen… where's Santana and Sugar?" Quinn asks as soon as the girl pretty much collapsed in front of them.

"She was taken… both of them… they almost got me too…"

"What do you mean they were taken?" Brittany pretty much yells.

"We were going to fall back, but then the robot was destroyed so we opened up fire on them like we planned. We took out most of them… then I don't know somehow they got behind us. Santana was hit by something… it all happened so quick. One minute she was shooting, the next she was out. Sugar too. They almost got me… but I managed to get away."

"Did you see which way they went." Quinn has to shake Mercedes to keep her awake. "Someone go get Red… she needs some help."

"I'm fine… really just a little tired, I guess fighting for your life will do that. They headed west out of town… there was four maybe five left in the hoard."

"Where would they take them."

"Back to the Germantown Police Headquarters no doubt." Red's voice says from behind them. "The place is almost due north from here… but they tend to stick the roads… to many creatures off the path… plus they would have to swim across the river… and super mutants don't swim. They probably used the bridge right out of town." Red explains as she helps Mercedes. "She is going to be fine."

"Well we need to go and save them… now." Quinn says as she grabs her weapon.

"They're as good as dead… trust me I know."

"We can't just leave them to die… look all I need is a few people, and we can have them back by morning if we leave now."

"Quinn… the town is exhausted… everyone here needs to rest… including you. There's no point in running across the wasteland on a pointless mission. It's just two people." Red says.

"Sugar is one of you guys.. Or did you forget." The townspeople all cringe. "Wow, you people are all spineless… but you know what I don't need your help, it's not like Santana has helped any of you." She says sarcastically. Again they all cringe. "Yeah I didn't think so. Rachel…" Quinn stops when she notices Rachel was no longer standing next to her, neither was Brittany. "Rachel!" this time she says it louder, hoping the girls were just taking in what they'd just heard. Unfortunately Brittany and Rachel were nowhere to be found.

What Quinn didn't realize was as soon as Mercedes said what direction the super mutants were heading in, Brittany pretty much snuck out of the town as fast as she possibly could, Rachel happened to notice it and took off after her… to try and stop her.

"Brittany… please stop." Rachel runs to catch up with her. "I know what you're thinking but… look you can't do this by yourself… we need supplies… food, ammo, medicine. You can't just run off after these creatures by yourself."

"I'm not going to sit and argue in a circle when we could be out there finding her Rachel."

"Brittany… please I know your heart is in the right place here but you can't do this alone."

"I'm not alone…"

"Britt."

"Lord Tubbington will come with me. " She says just as the creature runs towards them. This was the first time Rachel had seen lord Tubbington. "Look I need to do this... what if it was Quinn that had been captured, you know you would do the same thing, you should go back to camp, I'm sure Quinn will be worried… and I don't want her to be mad that you're out here with me. It's not safe.

"Britt… I know it's not safe out here.. But you are crazy if you think I'm going to let you go anywhere without backup. Plus Quinn would be mad if I left you out here by yourself."

"So you're going to help me and Tubbs?"

"Of course… come on we should hurry before they try and stop us." the two of them quickly head west, before they make it to the edge of the ghost town that surrounds Big Town they find numerous amounts of dead super mutants. The girls quickly raid the beings for any form of weapons and food. Brittany was a little afraid to get near the creatures, since even in death they looked gruesome. However, she did come across a curious looking weapon that she just had to try out. "What did you find Britt?" Rachel asks as she picks up one of the creatures assault rifle, along with a few clips of ammo.

"I don't know... some sort of weapon." it was heavy that was apparent, but it felt powerful.

"It looks like a mini gun...he probably got it off a dead Brotherhood of Steel."

"Brotherhood of Steel?"

"Oh... um... they're a group of people fighting the enclave... but they wear these massive suits of body armor and carry mini guns. We didn't get very many patrols passing through in Megaton, most of them are stationed further in the city."

"How do you think it works?"

"I'm not really sure... I've never seen one this close before. I'm guessing it's like any other weapon... point and shoot."

"Great... this will do. Come on we need to leave." they quickly pass by the old playground on the outskirts of town and follow the road. Rachel seemed to be keeping up alright even though Brittany was moving faster than usual. Lord Tubbington seemed to lead the group all together.

Meanwhile back at camp Quinn had just finished looking for Rachel in all the buildings hoping that Britt and her were somewhere hiding in the town. Unfortunately, she knew Brittany probably left while they were discussing Santana and Sugar, and Rachel probably ran after her. Whatever the case she knew she had to leave and catch up with them as soon as possible.

"Quinn, where are you going?" , Mercedes yells as she takes off across the bridge.

"Rachel and Brittany are going after the super mutants, I need to try and catch up to them before they get to the police station and get themselves killed." Quinn says.

"I'm coming with you."

"You're kidding right... you could barely stand a few minutes ago, if you come with me you're only going to be slowing me down."

"I'm coming with you and that's final." Quinn raises her eyebrow. "Look Sugar can be annoying, and loud, but we've been together since little lamp Light and I'm not going to sit by and let her die without trying to do something. I would like to think she would try to do the same for me too."

"Fine... but I'm not slowing down... if you want to help me, you just need to keep up." Quinn and Mercedes quickly make their way out of town towards the police station.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the waste Brittany and Rachel were crossing a bridge. It was midday and the sun was at its highest point. Both Rachel and Britt were just hoping they were heading in the right direction.

"Hey what's that" Brittany points across the bridge. Sure enough there was a small establishment hunkered along the shoreline of the river.

"Shit... I don't know...it could be raiders, we should try and sneak by, just in case someone is there." the girls quietly and quickly cross the rundown bridge while at the same time they tried to keep a low profile. The last thing they needed was to run into raiders, which would slow them down, or even worse kill them. Lucky for them they didn't see any movement from below.

"Do you think Quinn realizes we're gone yet?" Brittany asks as they pass the raider camp all together.

"Probably... she's probably right behind us, knowing her." Rachel says. "I'm surprised we haven't heard her yet..." Rachel can't help but smile

"Do you think we're going to find Santana and Sugar, Rae?"

"I hope so..."

"I just hope she's alright... if anything happened to her, I'd never forgive myself."

"This isn't your fault Britt... you can't blame yourself."

"But, just think if it weren't for me we wouldn't have been put in this situation."

"I don't understand Britt?"

"She left the vault for me... if I... none of this would be happening if I didn't... if she hadn't walked in on Artie and me. We might have been able to stay, she would have been safe."

"Britt... that's a very twisted thought to even be considering. Santana would have lost you if you'd stayed in the vault. She probably would have been killed from what I understand, and you would be lost to a mad man, just like I was before I met Quinn." Brittany can't help but let a tear escape.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I didn't think of it that way."

"And worst of all, if you two hadn't left the vault I would still be in Megaton... probably tied to the bed like a was a few days ago, and Quinn and I would never have had the strength to try to escape. I am so grateful for you too... I don't think you can even realize how much. You saved me and Quinn and I will never be able to repay you for that." Brittany smiles. It was weird to think that not all these events might have happened without Santana and her.

"I guess your right... It's like we were destined to meet. I just wish we could find somewhere to escape all of this madness."

5:00pm

Brittany looks down at her pipboy. The thing seems to be scanning as they walked, mapping out exactly where they were going and where they had been.

"I think were lost." Rachel says as she stops. For the most part their surroundings were very similar to what they had already passed. The only real landmark was the church they had passed a few miles back, but now all there was a broken down roads and fallen bridges amongst the wasteland. It was silent, dead, and the sun was starting to get low on the horizon. And worst of all they really had no idea where this police station was.

"I don't think so... Lord Tubbington wouldn't lead us astray... would you boy?" she pets the creature's head.

"Britt... please tell me we aren't just following Lord Tubbington around the wasteland."

"Of course not... We're heading north now... But we're following the road."

"But what if we went the wrong direction?" Brittany didn't know what to say. Truthfully, she got lost all the time, but Santana always seemed to find her. In this situation, the role was reversed, and the environment was something she wasn't used to.

"What's that ahead of us." Brittany asks, hoping to avoid Rachel's question. Sure enough ahead of them was a large piece of fallen bridge. "Come on Rachel..." Brittany jogs towards the rubble.

"What it's just rubble Britt."

"Here let me boost you up."

"What?"

"I'll boost you up so you can see what's around us... landmarks and such."

"Okay, if you think that will really work." Brittany manages to get Rachel up on the bridge relatively easy, since the girl weighed nothing.

"Do you see anything?" she asks.

"No... Just roads and waste land."

"No buildings?" Rachel does a 360 , trying her best to assess what was around her. "No nothing... wait... no I do see something. Buildings maybe?"

"What way?"

"There over there." Rachel points to the northwest.

"Great... jump down." Rachel gives her a worried glance. "Don't worry I'll catch you.

After Rachel's dramatic jump from the bridge the two of them rush towards the direction Rachel had seen buildings. Sure enough 20 minutes later they find themselves on the outskirts of an old pre-war town. These buildings were practically burnt to the ground, but it was a start.

"I know I saw something that looked like a concert building somewhere in here." Rachel says as they pass more rundown buildings. Once they make it over the next hill both of them stop in their tracks. Sure, enough in front of them is a mess of rebar and concrete.

"Do you think this is it?" Brittany asks.

"Yeah... I think it is... look" she points at one of the spears of which a human skull was hanging off of it.

"Gross."

"Looks like we found it though." Rachel tries to reason. Slowly they make their way up the cracked road. Around them, the area is littered with old tires and rusted out cars. The rebar spikes along the road were decorated with human remains, and just in front of them, they could see a chain linked fence.

"This is it... You ready." Brittany watches as Rachel checks her assault rifle, making sure there was indeed a bullet in the chamber. Brittany checked her weapon as well. The damn thing was heavy as hell, but she felt confident she could fire it from the waist.

"Let's go." the two of them sneak up to the gate. "Look" Brittany whispers and points to the blood trail on the other side of the gate. Quietly as possible, the girls open the latch and swing the gate open as quietly as possible. Brittany couldn't help but stare at the pooling of blood in front of her. 'That could be Santana's blood.'

"It's still fresh... maybe they just got here." Rachel whispers. In Brittany's opinion, it looked like a lot of blood, which meant that either Santana was extremely hurt or even worse dead.

'Think positive... she's fine. This could be super mutant blood.' Brittany tries her best to keep positive. Ahead of them, they find more indication of blood... and what looks like drag marks. Brittany leads followed by Rachel then lord Tubbington. They weave their way through the maze of the fence, but just as they turn a corner, they come face to face with a super mutant. Brittany's mind freezes for a moment... but then out of instinct she pushes the trigger mechanism on her mini-gun and opens fire on the creature before it can attack them. There was a loud whine sound then a barrage of bullets as the gun kicks into gear, and before Rachel can raise her weapon, the creature falls with a thud. It was all over in an instant. "Oh my god... I just killed... him or it."

"Shh Britt there might be more of them." the blood was pounding in her ears as the three of them make their way into the main part of the police encampment.

"Whose there..." they hear a grumbling voice call to them, but before Brittany can even see the creature lord Tubbington practically jumps the two of them and tackles another super mutant who had been waiting for them to pass. Tubbs ripped the thing to shreds in seconds leaving nothing but a torso. The camp seemed quiet.

"Do you think there's anymore?" Rachel whispers, Brittany shrugs. They were cautious walking into the center of the camp. The place was littered with bones, but what really surprised Rachel was the tents that were set up. "Do you think this was a stronghold for the military?" Rachel asks.

"I don't know... do super mutants need to sleep in tents?"

"I don't think so." Brittany looks inside one of them as they sneak past them. For the most part, they seem to be littered with used beds. Brittany was grateful to see they were empty.

"Over here..." Rachel calls to her. "There's more blood." they follow the trail of blood to another gate. "Look there's the door." Rachel points out as they open the gate. Brittany tries the door but it doesn't budge.

"It's locked. I don't think I can pick it either."

"Well there has to be a way in... let's see if we can find another door." Rachel whispers and leads them around the building. The back side of the building has been destroyed for the most part, but then Brittany notices a door on the second floor. She points it out to Rachel who leads them up the stairs. "It's unlocked." Rachel whispers as she opens the door.

This time they leave lord Tubbington outside... just to make sure no creatures try to sneak in behind them, plus Lord T wasn't as stealthy as they needed to be once they were inside. Rachel opened the door and slipped inside, followed by Brittany.

They really didn't know what to expect once they entered, but they were met with a relatively dark hallway. To their right was an open door.

"I think we need to head down another floor." Brittany whispers.

"Why?"

"These look like offices." Brittany points into the room, which not only had an abundance of filing cabinets but it also had multiple computer stations throughout. "When I worked in the vault I was a secretary for our security... and they mostly had offices on the upper floors... the holding cells were below." Brittany explains.

"Do you think that's where they would be?"

"Red mention she was being held there when we first came to Big Town, so I think it would be worth checking."

"We should still sweep through these rooms too. To make sure there aren't any Super Muties up here. We shouldn't leave any of them alive Britt especially if Santana or Sugar are wounded. We might have to stay here until they regain their strength, and I don't want to be sharing it with the super mutants."

"Right then let's check these rooms quick and find the stairs." they check the first room to the right relatively quick. It had another entrance that leads them back towards the main hallway. They stopped before they could enter the next room as two deep voices seemed to pop out of nowhere. It was hard to follow what they were talking about, Rachel tries her best to see where in the room the creatures were. Judging by the muffled voices, they sounded like they were facing away from the door. Sure enough, Rachel sees them in the corner hooking up something that looked like a trip wire. Luckily, there seems to be enough cover in the room for her to crawl in further.

"Did you hear something." one of the super mutants asks. Rachel freezes in her spot.

"Don't worry... it was Rad roach. Keep working." looking around the edge of the cubical she was hiding behind Rachel could make out several frag mines the creatures were setting. She looks back to see Brittany in the doorway, but waves at her to stop. 'It would be easy to take these two out by shooting the mines.' she thinks. She quietly lines up her shot, and opens up with a burst of bullets. The assault rifle had more of a kick than she was used to, but even with the sudden kick of the weapon, she was able to hit the pile of mines. The explosion shook the floor, and when the dust settled and she looked back around the corner there was two dead super mutants.

"Two down..." she singles Brittany to follow her. The rest of the rooms were relatively easy to search apart from the skeleton remains that were scattered throughout them. However as they crept further down the hall they noticed that some of the rooms were booby trapped. The super mutants they had killed had set numerous amounts of frag mines throughout the floor making it that much harder to search. If Quinn had been there, she could have easily disarmed the mines, but neither Rachel nor Brittany had any idea how to do it themselves. So instead, they avoid them as best as possible. The last room they check turned out to be the sixth one on the floor. As Brittany and Rachel snuck in they notice it the numerous amount of net bags full of human remains. "They're gore bags." Rachel whispers to Brittany who can only nod in return. There was so much blood in this room it was starting to make Brittany sick.

"Let's get out of here." with that, they quickly found the staircase and headed down to the ground floor. However as they made it down the last flight of stairs a yellow figure stops right in front of them. Before Brittany can get her weapon up, the creature lets out a painful scream. "What the..." then the creature falls.

"What was that." Rachel whispered.

"I have no idea." Brittany peeks around the corner and is met by a rad roach face. Her instincts tell her to scream but instead with all her might she swings at the creature with her machine-gun and squishes it instantly. "Ew, that's just sick."

"Rad roach?"

"Yeah... a big one too, looks like it tore off this muties leg."

"Shit." Rachel looks at the damage and sure enough there was a leg missing. "Quickly let's check these rooms as fast as possible." Brittany switches to her hand gun. If there were rad roaches that could do this much damage she didn't want them to get anywhere near her. Hopefully she would be able to hit them with the 9mm.

The rest of the rooms were like the upstairs rooms, only this time they seem to be rittled with bugs, which Brittany quickly dispatched of.

"Look... over here, there's a blood trail." Rachel says loudly.

"I found you!" a voice booms as a Super mutant comes barreling around the corner straight for Rachel.

"Rachel!" Brittany screams as the creature practically plows her into the wall. Brittany unloads the rest of her 9mm into the creature's chest.

"Brittany get down!" a voice yells at her. Brittany hits the ground just as two giant slugs explode through the creature's chest. The creature's body lands just in front of Rachel revealing Quinn and Mercedes.

"Is everyone okay." Quinn asks as she rushes towards Rachel to assess the girl's injuries.

"I'm fine Quinn... He just knocked the wind out of me." Rachel rubs the back of her neck as she sits up.

"What the hell were you two thinking... Leaving Big Town without telling anyone where you were going. Not to mention this place is crawling with Muties, you guys could have been killed."

"It's Santana, Quinn. I couldn't just stand around and do nothing." Brittany explains.

"Quinn, Brittany did what anyone of us would do for each other, risk their life. You can't be mad at her for that."

"Look for what it's worth I would have done the same thing... But we're supposed to be friend's right Britt, and the fact that you two took off without telling me hurts."

"I'm sorry Quinn I just didn't want to waste time. You know actually we were expecting you to catch up with us."

"Well we might have... if it weren't for the group of raiders we ran into while crossing the bridge, along with two security drones that tried to kill us by the church, and a centaur that followed us from god knows where. We almost shot Lord Tubbington too... that's how we knew you two had made it here." Quinn explains.

"But how did you get in here... that door was locked?"

"We were just about to try and find another way in when we heard the gun shots so we broke open the door... thanks to Mercedes and her sawed off shotgun."

"Right... so I don't mean to interrupt this moment, but we are here on a mission." Mercedes says. "Let's clear the rest of this floor and save our friends before those bastards try and eat them." the girls quickly follow Mercedes lead. They split back into pairs, in order to cover the rest of the floor faster. This time Quinn and Rachel went together while Mercedes followed Brittany as they search the rest of the rooms. The group came across several herds of Rad Roaches, which were relatively easy to kill. It was like squashing a bug... a really big bug with a hunger for human flesh.

"Over here!" Quinn calls to the other girls. "The blood trail is leading back here. " The four of them rush after Quinn who instantly opens fire as they enter the next room catching the Super Mutant Guard by surprise and killing it almost instantly with her own weapon.

"Oh my God... Sugar." Mercedes cries as she walks further into the room she sees her once lively friend huddled in the corner of the jail cell she was currently locked in. There was a lot of standing blood on its floor that instantly sent chills down Brittany's spine.

"We need to get her out of there." Quinn says as she begins searching the dead guard for a key. "Here use this." she tosses Mercedes the Key, who quickly unlocks the door and swings it open in order to get to the frighten girl.

"Sugar... look at me, it's Mercedes please... look at Me." the girl's voice must snap Sugar out of her shock because the next thing that happened was the little strange girl jumping up into Mercedes arms and bursting into tears.

"Wait where's Santana?" Brittany asks.

"She's not in the remaining cells." Rachel calls. "I checked."

"Sugar where did they take Santana?" Mercedes asks shaking the girl lightly.

"There was so much blood..." Sugar murmurs.

"Sugar focus... where is she."

"The drug her... she was out cold so they drug her out of the cell... and I cried and begged for them to come back."

"Sugar!"

"They... um said something about the basement... I don't... I... she was alive but then I don't know."

"We need to go... Now!" Brittany yells.

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><p>End for now

Sorry for the long wait, I can only write this fic when I'm in a fallout mood, kind of like playing the game itself. Hopefully you like it, it has a bit of everything mixed in this chapter. Anyway, I hope you enjoy, the first chapters have all been re-done as well. I'm always finding mistakes thou.

I hope this has made up for the long wait... now you have something to look forward too... Will they rescue Santana?

Go ahead and review, if you feel like.


	10. Where is my mind

Disclaimer: I do not own glee or its characters… or Fallout

Author's notes: I love writing this fic for you all. Your guys reviews always make me smile. I really enjoy seeing new reviewers along with the reviewers who have been following since I started posting this fic. I'm glad people are enjoying the glee and fallout put together. A special thanks to tunnelsnake3, anon, heroicintentions, annnnooooonimus (you know who you are), pcall006, ilovekc, silver85, and thatkid. Your guys' reviews for the last chapter were awesome.

As always all mistakes are my own… there will probably be a lot so I apologize in advance, hopefully it won't be too distracting.

Enjoy.

* * *

><p><strong>Fallout<strong>

Chapter 10: Where is My Mind

Inside Santana's mind

'Time had stopped… or at least that's what it felt like. One moment everything was crystal clear, the next my mind was to shatter into a million pieces. Where am I? What was I doing before I lost myself. The images are clouded… I… I was in the Vault. No, wait that's not right. I… we left the vault. Brittany and I had to leave, it was no longer safe for us to stay. Then Megaton… the cratered city in the waste. That's where we met Rachel and Quinn. All of this has already happened. I can see it but it's so fragmented. No… wait… we left Megaton… after killing Moriarty. We found Big Town, that's it, that's where… where… I remember us helping to protect the town… we were being attacked by monsters. Giant yellow creatures that wanted nothing more than to kill us for supper or worse. But why can't I remember anything else? One moment I'm fighting the creatures back, the next moment, nothing. Everything went black, and now I feel like I'm floating. Wait… no no no no no …. Fuck no… I died… this can't be happening… this is bullshit! I can't be dead. But I can't move… wait… okay Santana calm down. You were just hit in the head right… right. So that means everything is fine… you probably only have a head wound. Okay you need to stay calm. Panicking won't solve anything. Just think… What would your father say if you were treating a patient with a head wound?' Santana can almost hear her dad's voice ask her what a head injury is, it was the only way to keep her from panicking, not that it would do any good anyway. It wasn't as if she was going anywhere anytime soon. 'Right so a head injury is any trauma to the head or face. It is caused by a forcible collision with some sort of object, large or small, such as the ground, a car, a bullet, or in this case a giant creature with a blunt object. Some head injuries result in a break in the head or a fractured skull, which can immediately cause brain damage. Other head injuries result in swelling, which can damage the brain as the swelling progresses. Great… just freaken great.'

"Focus Santana, what are the symptoms of a head injury" her dad's voice becomes clearer, it seemed like he was almost standing over her.

'Right… symptoms of a head injury are , the patient may experience abrupt changes in personality, such as anger or irritability, without an apparent cause. Well that already sounds like me. Patients could suffer bone fractures or deformity, especially of the skull or face. Clear or blood-tinged fluid coming from the mouth, ears, or nose. They could indicate signs of confusion, drowsiness, clumsiness, have memory loss, lethargy, or difficulty speaking, understanding, or hearing. Loss of control of bodily functions, please let my bodily functions be okay. Pupils that are different sizes, or pupils that do not change when exposed to light and dark. Seizure or unexplained shaking or convulsions. Expect severe headaches, slow or stopped breathing. They could be unconscious or be in a coma. There could be Vomiting, and weakness or paralysis. What else Santana.' The doctor in her prodded. 'How can one treat a head injury, well I guess it depends on its severity and exact location or type. A mild head injury can be treated by careful observation to monitor any worsening of symptoms, and can be treated by medications, such as acetaminophen, to control headaches. Moderate or severe brain injuries are treated with supportive care to ensure adequate oxygen and proper blood flow to the brain, among other things. Additionally, it is important to limit swelling in the brain. In severe head injuries, the skull may have to be partially removed to allow the brain room to expand. Surgery may also be required to fix damaged vessels or other tissues in the brain or around the skull.'

"Very good…"she could hear her dad's voice above her as if she was standing just mere inches from her. "Santana, please stop daydreaming and pay attention… the stuff that I teach you now is detrimental to your work." Her father's voice says.

"Huh?" as if she were waking up from a dream the dark room around her started to come into focus. She blinks as the lights above her throw her focus out of whack. "Where in the hell." The room she was in was very familiar, she had spent many hours here throughout her childhood. "The lab… but how…" she was in the vaults lab… the metal walls and fluorescent lights pretty much confirmed that.

"Santana please… focus, what is wrong with you today. Are you feeling sick?" Santana looks next to her and sure enough her father was standing there giving her a concerned expression.

'This isn't right.' Santana shakes her head. "How did I get here?"

Her dad laughs. "Honey, surely you are aware of where babies come from… You were no different." Her looming father smirks above her.

"No dad… how did I get back here! What… where's Brittany… did she bring me back here. I need to see her now!" Santana shoots up from her desk.

"Honey… I don't know what you're talking about. Whose Brittany?"

"Brittany… my best friend.. The girl I'm in love with. She was the one I ran away with after shooting Abrams!" Santana starts to hyperventilate.

"Whoa, sweetie… you need to calm down. I don't know what is going on in that brain of yours lately… you've been so distant. But sweetie, I can assure you I've never met this love of yours before… this Brittany, and what do you mean you shot Abrams?"

Santana is speechless. 'What is going on.' She flinches away when her dad's hand comes into contact with her forehead.

"It must be the stress, you should go back to the room and lay down for a bit. The stress of the job must be getting to you." Santana throws him a confused look before getting up from her desk. Everything was different… that much she knew.

"But dad… I was in the wasteland.. I was fighting Super Mutants with Sugar and Mercedes. And Quinn and Rachel were there with me and Britt-"

"Now that's enough!" her dad interrupts her. "In case you haven't noticed we don't have time to talk about this fictitious land of yours Santana. It was a dream brought on by stress… nothing more. I have enough on my plate as it is, now please… go back to your room and try to relax. I'm all most finished here anyway." Her father turns away from her in order to greet the next patient.

With that Santana storms out of the lab, there was no use trying to argue with her dad. In his world, she would always be wrong anyway. She doesn't bother going back to her room, she had to find Brittany and fast. She weaves her way through the hallways as fast as possible, trying her best to avoid the sentry guard patrols. The last time she was here she had a target put on her head by Abrams, and the last thing she wanted was to be shot. As she runs around a corner she comes face to face with a familiar vault dweller.

"Amata! Thank god, I need to find Brittany… she wasn't in the lab… which was weird-"

"Excuse me?" Amata pushes past her.

"Amata wait?" Santana tries to stop her, but before she can Amata turns on her quickly catching Santana off guard. The future overseer's face was hardened, something Santana hasn't seen before.

"I'm sorry… but you will refer to me as the overseer's daughter. I don't know who told you my real name, but you will refrain from using it. Do I make myself clear miss… occupants of the vault also shouldn't be running down the hallways. So unless you want me to get security evolved I suggest you be on your way." Before Santana can even comprehend what was coming out of Amata's mouth the girl had turned away from her to continue down the hall.

"What the fuck is going on!" this wasn't her vault. Amata would have never treated her like that, they were close, hell Santana was practically raised by Amata. She however didn't have the time to dwell on what was going on around her. She needed to find Brittany. "Room 105." Brittany's old room. She quickly pounds on the large metal door. "Britt! Are you in there!" No answer. She pounds again. "Bri-"

"Excuse me young lady, can I help you." an old lady came around the corner carrying a bag of food.

"I was trying to see if my friend is home." Santana explains.

"Oh I'm sorry dear, but I'm afraid you might have the wrong door. You see this is my place." Sure enough as soon as the lady gets close enough the door opens.

"But… this is room 105 right?" Santana stands awkwardly outside of the lady's place.

"Of course it is."

"But Brittany Pierce lives in room 105" Santana tries to explain.

"Well I don't know any Brittany Pierce young lady, but I can assure you she doesn't live here."

With that the metal door closes on Santana's face. She knew she wasn't wrong. She had spent countless hours in this exact room growing up. She remembers the two of them would stay up all night sometimes swapping endless stories about their future dreams, and eating endless bowls of powdered ice cream. This was her place, she was sure.

Santana slowly sulked back to her own residence. 'Maybe Brittany would be waiting for me there. Yeah that has to be where she is.' Santana takes off towards her place, room 215 hoping to find her lovely blonde waiting for her.

"Brittany!" she runs into the living area only to be met with the cold metal of the vault. She tries her bedroom next, but all that was there was her unmade bed. She was all alone. The next thing she notices was the picture frame on her old dresser, it was suppose to be of the two of them together, but now as she looked closer at it she notices Brittany missing from it. It was as if someone was trying to erase Brittany from her life, and there was only one person who would try to do that. "Abrams." If Abrams had Brittany she couldn't stall anymore, she needed to find her and get her away from that man before he could hurt her again. Santana turns to leave, but is stopped as her dad enters the room.

"Santana I thought I told you to get some rest… you should be laying down."

"Dad I don't have time for that… Brittany needs me okay, Abrams has her and I'm not letting that bastard hurt her ever again." She tries to push past her dad, but is stopped.

"Okay Santana that's enough… there is no Brittany your age. Trust me, I know pretty much everyone in the vault, and the only Brittany here is is five years old. And what is all of this nonsense bout Abrams? I thought you guys were cool seeing as he's Noah's boss and all."

Her father wasn't making any sense, 'and who the fuck is Noah?' "Will you stop pretending, you know who Brittany is, she is my best friend, my only friend. And I have spent every holiday, birthday, and every weekend together with her!" Santana yells. "And how dare you come into my room and mess with my stuff. I don't appreciate you cutting up my pictures dad." Santana was becoming beyond angry.

Before she even realized it her dad had pulled her back into her room and laid her on the bed. "Okay sweetie, I realize you are under a lot of stress, with the wedding and all, so look I'm going to give you a little sedative just to help you relax." Before Santana could process what her dad said, he had already stuck her with the small needle with what she assumed was morphine. 'Who carries that shit around with them.' Her protest dies quickly as she slowly feels her mind starting to drift away.

Wait… what wedding?" she asks for she falls completely into darkness.

* * *

><p>"Oh my god San!" she can hear a familiar voice calling to her, but it sounded so far away. "Quinn her eye! San can you hear me!" the voices were muffled but she was sure she could hear Brittany's voice . That was when she felt a white flash of pain spread through her body. Pain… It was familiar. "San please stay with me." The sky above her was dark… but she could make out the stars of the waste. "Quinn she's convulsing… what do I do!" above her she could barely make out the familiar face that went along with the heavenly voice.<p>

"I think she's having a seizer Brittany…" she hears another voice.

"Fuck do something… we need to help her."

"Britt…" she tries to speak but she's not sure if she can. She was in so much pain.

"Please baby… please just stick with me." Brittany pleads with her, but it was useless, she could feel the darkness around her closing in.

Santana finds herself once again standing in the poorly lit room all alone. This time there must have been a mirror in front of her since she was standing face to face with herself.

"Oh that's sweet dearie, you think I'm you." the other her says.

"Wait your me? I mean I'm talking to me…"

"Stop confusing yourself, it's pathetic. I can't believe we share the same body."

"What the fuck are you … I mean me…"

"You can call me Snix, and I'm that small part of you that you try so hard to ignore. It's weird, normally you succeed in pushing me back, but now I'm free and I'm not going back."

"I don't understand what do you want."

"It's cute, the whole denial thing. But here let me break it down for ya, I'm that little part of you that you feel every time you get angry. I'm that small voice that urges you to kill every time you feel threatened, and I'm the part of you that isn't afraid to kill anyone caught in my path. Pain is something I live for, and I don't care who I have to hurt to get what I want."

"What is it you want?"

"I want everything…your weak Santana, to me your about as useless as a fluffy puppy. You think you can protect your friends, well you can't. Everyone you love is going to die, and there is nothing you can do to stop that. But it's all right, now that I'm free, things are going to start to change around here. You better be ready."

* * *

><p>"Snix?" Santana jolts awake. She was back in her vault room bed. Alone. She looks at her pipboy, her dad had knocked out for a few hours, according to the pipboy it was now four in the morning. She lies back down. Everything here was wrong, according to her father and that old lady, Brittany wasn't here in the vault. In fact, she seemed to be erased entirely from the vaults records. It was really confusing. And who was this Snix girl. "It must have been a dream." But deep down Santana knew it wasn't, Snix was apart of her, she could sense it<p>

Santana lies back in her bed falling effortlessly back to sleep. This time she didn't dream. It wasn't until she felt her bed dip that she woke from her dreamless sleep. At first, she was confused. It couldn't be Brittany right. As soon as the two manly arms wrap around her she springs into action and pushes the intruder out of her bed with as much power as possible.

"Ow, San what the hell is wrong with you." the lights turn on reveling a very UN welcomed face.

"Puck? What the fuck do you think you're doing sneaking into my room at night. Get out!"

"Whoa... babe what are you talking about. You stood me up for dinner so I came to check on you after my shift. Your dad told me that you weren't feeling well that's why I'm here. To make you feel better."

"I don't need you ever, you prick, so get out before I call security."

"Okay am I missing something here... did I forget like your birthday of something because it seems like your mad at me for something and I'm not going to lie I can't figure out what."

"Are you serious right now... I hate you Puck... I've always hated you. You made every day more difficult with between me and Brittany, now you think it's okay to just show up in my bed like being buds or something, I dint know what you're on but this whatever it stops now. So leave."

"What babe... I know you're under a great deal of stress, but are you calling off the wedding?"

"What wedding!?"

"Um... ours?"

'Um please say I heard that wrong, there is no way I am going to marry this creep.' "Puck, I'm sorry, it's obvious that I just hallucinated you saying that we are getting married. Now please, I need to go back to sleep before my head explodes from all of the crazy happening around me."

"Santana… we are getting married." Santanat laughs right in his face.

"See there, you said it again. This place is absolutely backwards." Santana jumps out of bed and heads towards the door. She couldn't stay in her room any longer. In what universe would she ever marry Puck, of all people Puck wasn't even on the top 10 list of possible people she would even consider dating. But here in this place, she was marrying him, a life without Brittany lead to her marrying one of greatest douches in the vault. 'This place is a nightmare.' She thinks. With nowhere in mind antana starts down the empty corridors of the vault.

"So you found that just as hilarious as I did." A voice calls to her. She looks over her shoulder but is met with an empty hallway.

"Hello?"

"Over here S baby." Santana turns towards the glass window. It was her reflection smirking at her.

"Snix…"

"In the flesh… well almost. You seem surprised to see me."

"I didn't think you were actually real."

"I figured as much… but I'm as real as that beautiful blonde you miss so much."

"Brittany… what do you know…" santana pounds on the glass.

"I know everything about Brittany… since she is the one thing we have in common. That being said I should probably inform you that she needs you."

"But I can't find her. She isn't here."

"Right… but that doesn't mean you should stop fighting to find her. This place your in… its not real. Its all fake. A trap set up by our mind to protect you from suffering along with your body."

"But then how do I escape. How can I get back to Brittany."

"That's a good question, if I knew how to get out of your mind don't you think I would have escaped a long time ago. You see your mind is like a maze, every door in this place is like a loop. And that is why I'm here to help you. Unless you want to stay here… you know and marry Puck and have a dozen Puckletts" santana cringes at the idea of staying here any longer than necessary. "Yeah that's what I thought."

"I don't know how to escape."

"Right but luckily for you all we have is time to figure that out right."

"Santana?" santana turns away from the window towards the voice. It was her father. "What are you doing out here at this hour?"

"Oh.. I couldn't sleep."

"Huh, did Noah upset you dear?"

Santana doesn't know how to react to this question, here she was suppose to be in love with the guy who took advantage of her in real life. The guy who blackmailed her for years in order to protect Brittany. Of course Puck would upset her.

"No daddy… Noah" she cringes at the first name "didn't upset me… I'm just stressed. Like you said, I have a lot on my mind." She forces out.

"Well why don't you come back to our pad. I don't like you wandering around the vault at night, this place isn't as safe as you think."

Santana reluctantly follows him back to their place. "You know I was worried bout you earlier all this talk bout imaginary people and living in the waste. Thought might have lost your mind for a second, but it looks like I was wrong."

Santana notices Snix standing in the corner of the living room as they entered. "Yeah, I feel like I'm losing my mind." She tries to joke. Snix's wink sat her. 'Oh I am definitely losing it here.' She thinks.

Time moves differently here, that much Santana knew. Days flew past, and she was no where near figuring out how to leave this place. Some days she would wander round aimlessly looking for a large door that said EXIT on it, other as she spent playing along with façade. She missed Brittany, and everyday apart from her was slowly takings turn. Snix wasn't as much help as you would think. For the most part the doppelganger seemed to follow her around. Santana was overwhelmed she wasn't sure what she needed to do to escape, at one point she thought maybe living among this false world would bring her closer to the answer she was looking for, but that ment she would have to marry Puck… which was never going to happen.

"We're never going to be free of his place at the pace you're moving." Snix cornered her in her bathroom. The alter go was becoming stronger, and more demanding than usual.

"I don't know what you want me to do… "Santana shrugged, she knew she was trapped… or dead.

"Something is better than nothing… don't you want to be with Brittany?" Snix sneered.

Santana was forced to wander the endless labyrinth that was the vault. It was different from what she remembered. Most halls led her around in circles, others were completely locked off. This place was miserable, she felt like a lab rat forced to navigate the never ending maze of metal walls. Time seemed to move past her. Days flew by according to her pipboy, then weeks, months. It was strange, eventually Santana forgot what she was supposed to be doing. She went to work, she went home, she ate... she was trapped in a loop, and she really was starting to forget about that person she was supposed to be looking for.

"San?"

Her favorite part of her day however was the moment right before her eyes would close before she fell into a dreamless sleep. There was a point where she could almost feel someone holding her tightly. She could feel them run their hands through her hair and whisper softly to her. Sure, she couldn't understand what they were saying, but it felt... it felt like home. A place so far away it was hard to remember everything from before. Nevertheless, in those moments she could almost taste Brittany against her lips. This was the best part of her day... the one thing she looked forward to... those few moments where she felt free. "Brittany."

Where is my mind?

Things would change before Santana would completely lose herself.

"Wake up!" Snix yelled into her ear.

Santana's eyes fly open.

"What the fuck Snix."

"Today is the day... today is it I can feel it so get up." Snix pulls the sheets off Santana.

'That was new.' Santana stared at Snix. The double had never been able to interact with the physical surroundings of the vault.

"I knew it... today's the day."

"I don't understand... what's going on?" Santana gets out of bed.

"It's my turn... we're getting out of here." with that Snix pushes Santana, making the girl fall to the ground, only when she looks up to yell at the evil clone she sees another one of her. Snix is smiling as she literally jumps into the third 'Santana'.

"What's going on?" Santana stands back up. She tries to grab Snix to force her to look at her only to have her hand go right through the forearm of her body.

Snix smirks. "Things are about to get interesting... you better keep up." and with that Snix rushes out of the bedroom. Santana quickly rushes after her.

"Okay... try to stay calm. Dad!" she sees her dad come out of his room, but the man doesn't acknowledge her. "Dad?" she stands in front of him only to be ignored completely. "Look at me! No this... this isn't happening."

"Oh it's happening." Snix walks back into the room.

"Honey?" her dad looks at her. "Who are you talking to dear?'

"Oh no one daddy." the girl says sweetly.

The next thing that happens takes Santana by surprise. One moment she tries to figure out what the hell is going on, the next she hears a gunshot go off. She turns in time to see her dad fall to the ground, Snix standing over top of his body with a still smoking gun.

Santana blinks... shock rakes her body as she sees the ever growing pool of blood moving towards her. Snix on the other hand seems unfazed. In fact, she looks just as smug as before.

"Dad!?" Santana tries to get closer to the body. "You... you shot... you just killed." Santana is unable to form coherent words.

"Poor daddy." Snix says in a mocking tone.

"Why. How. Why are you doing this?"

"Come on Santana... we've been here for months... it's time for some action, and it is obvious that I am the person that is going to get us out of this fucking place. This is how we're going to do it." Snix shakes her gun around.

"You're just going to kill... my dad?"

"No silly... EVERYONE. I'm going to kill everyone until I find that door into the outside world. Then who knows what I'll do. So you can sit here and mourn over the imaginary dad in your head, or you can follow me to the exit." with that Snix leaves the vault chamber.

Santana wasn't sure what she should do, she tries to touch her father, but her hands go right through him. She then hears two more gunshots. "Fuck." she takes off towards the noise running as fast as she can in order to catch up to the out of control alter ego. She passes two dead guards before she finds Snix who is firing at more security guards at the other end of the hall. The vault alarm erupts as the chaos around her starts to unfold. Snix cleared the next hallway shooting anyone unfortunate enough to cross her path. "Where are we going?"

"To the exit silly."

"But we already tried to get out of the vault. The entrance to the vault door is sealed remember... we need the password frm the overseer to even get into the room."

"Oh I know. Don't worry I've got it all figured out." she shoots two more guards.

"Plus aren't we heading in the wrong direction... the overseer's office is in the other direction."

"I need to make a quick stop before we leave if that's alright with you." before Santana is even able to grasp what the girl is saying she recognizes the door they were now standing in front of.

"We can't go in there." it was the security wing.

"Of course we can... plus I need to finish something you fail to do." Snix kicks the ID card mount forcing it to malfunction and opening the doors.

"Where did you even get the gun?"

"Puck... let's just say he won't be needing it anytime soon."

Gunfire explodes throughout the wing as Snix fights her way towards the one office Santana had been avoiding.

"Hello Artie." Snix says after kicking open the door. Sure enough, the man she hated more than describable was sitting behind his desk.

"What are you doing in here?"

"Oh you know... making a scene." she shoots the man in the shoulder making him fall from his office chair. Santana walks further into the room. "You see Santana... this was where I was born. Right here in this room, of course that was in the real world." Snix makes her way towards the weeping man. "It was in this spot that you created me. Do you remember?" Snix looks over her shoulder at her with that smug expression. "Yeah you remember, it was right after you pistol whipped this fucker. Snix shoots Artie again this time in the right knee. Santana looks at the white stained couch, and for a moment, she can almost see her tattered blonde lying on it, abused and broken. "You were so angry... it's hard to even describe it. Just murderous rage seeping from your soul. Then bam I appear. That small voice egging you to kill this man... that small voice that for a second you questioned, before giving me complete control." she shoots Artie again, this time in the head. "Too bad he didn't die in real life am I right." Santana can't stop herself from smirking. "There we go... that's the Santana I want to see more of. This courageous crap you've been pulling in the waste... helping people. No bueno. The only person you should be helping is yourself... and Brittany." Santana can't help but nod in agreement. It was hard to argue with Snix's logic... since technically it was her own. "Heartless... just the way I like it. Come on let's get the fuck out of this vault." Snix and Santana continue their way through the vault, taking out as many guards as possible along the way. They reached the overseer's office and force him to his knees. "What's the password?" Snix easily gets the code before pistol whipping the man. They take a very familiar path towards the large sealed vault door.

"We did it." Santana says as they reach the control panel.

"No... I did it, but since I'm you, I guess you could say we." Snix pulls the switch to open the door.

It was just as loud as she remembers when he heard it open for the first time. In front of hers, she could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Snix grabs her hand. "Are you ready?"

"Yes."

Together the two of them walk down the poorly lit tunnel. As the two of them passed through they are blinded by an intense light.

* * *

><p>"DOCTOR! Get in here... she opened her eye!" a voice yell next to her. "Oh my god San... please, please..." Santana blinks again the light overwhelming her. "You're okay, Doctor Li! Try not to move San." the voice says next to her, it was so familiar.<p>

'Britt?' she tries to say only to find out she couldn't. Around her, she could hear multiple voices as people moved around her.

"Take out that tube." an unfamiliar voice says, Santana almost gags as she feels the pressure in her throat. Finally, her eyes adjust enough to see a metal ceiling above her. For a moment she thinks she's back in the vault, but the ceiling looks worn and rusted.

"Britt?" her voice is horse, dry, and sore.

"Shh baby... I'm here trying not to speak okay." Santana looks for where the voice is coming from. Her head rolls to the left. She gasps when she lays her eyes on a familiar face. One that she felt like she hadn't seen for years.

"Britt..." she mouths as a tear runs down her cheek. The blonde was in tears as well. Santana tries her best to take in her surroundings... she couldn't remember what had happened to her. She couldn't remember anything, just Brittany. She tries desperately to remember, but her head feels like its being tightened in a vice. Then the pain hit her. "Hurts." she tries to move her but her body feels like dead weight.

"Sweetie don't move okay... just relax." a white haired man comes in her line of sight. "My names Doctor Preston... Doctor Li's here too. You've been out for a long time dear." the man says.

"What...?" Santana was confused but the pain that rittled through her body became worse. Every part of her body hurt.

"You've been in a coma... for 125 days. You suffered massive trauma to the left side of your body from what Brittany says was a Super mutant. The swelling in your brain forced us to operate in order to alleviate the pressure from the skull."

"They shaved your head." Brittany says as she runs her fingers along her head. "Well only the left side."

"You also had severe trauma to the left eye... we were forced to remove It." the doctor says.

'What' against she tries to move her left arm but can't. She starts to panic. Her body erupts in pain.

"San... please stop trying to move... doctor... she's in pain, can't you do something."

"Yes dear... I can see that. Doctor Li can you please administer the pain medication... well explain everything to you when you wake back up."

"I don't know why I'm even here... I'm not actually a medical doctor." she hears a voice say.

"You're here so do it anyway." Doctor Preston says. "Well that should help dear... well continue this conversation when you wake up." the man disappears from her line of vision.

"Britt?"

"Shh... the doctor says you need to rest. I promise I won't leave your side."

The world around her starts to become fussy as the pain medication takes hold of her.

"Britt... where are we?" she manages to say before blacking out.

"Rivet City... we're safe in Rivet City San. I love you."

Santana feels Brittany's lips press against her forehead before succumbing to the darkness, once again.

* * *

><p>That's it for this chapter. I hope you like it. The next will be flashbacks of how they got to rivet city... and stuff happening in the city as well. I wanted to injury Santana more severely because I plan to use this later, let me know what you think. Santana also is sporting a halve shaved head kind like in the game... but looks more like rihanna's in my mind.<p>

Review and let me know your thoughts... things you want to see. Things you hate...


	11. The Backlash

**Fallout**

**AN/: hi… everyone ;)**

Chapter 11: The Backlash… Welcome to Rivet City

* * *

><p>"Wait, where's Santana?" Brittany asks. She was freaking out.<p>

"She's not in the remaining cells." Rachel yells from further inside the room. "There's no one else here." Rachel lowers her weapon as she rejoins the group.

"Sugar, where did they take Santana?" Mercedes asks shaking the stunned girl lightly. The girl was covered in blood, most of it was dried. She was also caked in mud, thanks to being dragged through the wastelands.

"There was so much blood..." Sugar murmurs. The girl was definitely in shock.

"Sugar focus... where is she. Where did they take Santana?" Mercedes shakes her again trying to get the frighten girl to snap out of it.

"They um … drug her away... she was out cold, so they drug her out of the cell. I begged them to stop but they took her out of the room." The girl starts crying hysterically while grabbing onto Mercedes.

"Sugar!" Mercedes slaps her friend in an attempt to snap her out of her hysteria. It seems to help.

"They... um said something about the basement... I don't... I... she was alive, but then I don't know. They um, they took her in that direction" Sugar points to the bloody trail leading out of the old jail room.

"We need to go... Now!" Brittany yells. She doesn't wait to see if the others follow her as she takes off, following the blood that stained the tiled floor. Brittany rushes down the poorly lit hallway, the only light she had was coming from her pipboy. Everything was happening so fast, yet at the same time it was all a blur. The only thing that she could think of was Santana... she needed to find her and fast. They follow the bloody drag marks down the stairs of the police station. It was eerie seeing the human hand prints left behind, almost as if Santana, or another victim of these creatures were trying to avoid being drug down the stairs. What was most unsettling was the bag of body parts they practically trip over as they rounded the corner of the stairway.

"Gross." Rachel covers her nose as she passes the gore bag filled with mutilated body parts. Quinn quickly pulls her along. As they reach the basement door, Brittany practically rips it off its hinges in order to get through it. Entering the poorly lit basement, the three girls move quietly. There was a doorway right away to the right of them as they entered. Quinn taps Brittany's shoulder to make sure the girl sees it. She looks around the corner hopping to see Santana, but instead is met with the eerie silence of an empty room. Quinn and Rachel flank in right after her. Quinn notices the ammo boxes, medical kit on the nearby table and immediately scavenges through them grabbing anything useful. This being a police station, they find rather useful supplies, including a few extra pistols in the nearby gun cabinet. Brittany is the first to notice the bodies hanging from the ceiling further in the room. It looked like a torture chamber by a vast amount of dead bodies hanging from the ceiling. The three of them were horrified by the sight.

"What is this place?" Rachel asks as she notices more gore bags hanging from the ceiling just past the barrier infornt of them.

"This must be the police stations shooting range." Quinn mutters lowly, not wanting to be too loud. She walks closer to the partition in front of them. "Looks like the muties are using it for something else." Brittany jumps the barrier, and runs towards the several hanging bodies in the room. They were unrecognizable considering they all were missing their heads and arms. Behind her she hears Rachel gagging up the last remnants in her stomach. This has to be hell on earth. Brittany jumps when she feels someone's hands on her. Instinctively she throws a punch... luckily Quinn blocks her from lading a blow to her face.

"Quinn... I'm sorry… it's just… do you think?" Brittany can't even finish her thought it was just to horrible.

"No... Brittany, none of these are Santana... they look like they've been here a while. Come on lets keep looking." Quinn pulls her back towards to entrance of the room. They clear and scavenge a nearby closet before heading back the same way they came from. The next room they enter was very open but just like the last room it was empty... there were three open doorways in this room.

"We should split up." Rachel says in a hushed tone. She could have sworn she heard a rad roach coming from the rooms in front of her.

"No... it's too dangerous. We need to stick together." Quinn argues.

"Well then which way should we go?" Rachel asks as she wanders further into the room.

"That way." Brittany says as she points the room to the left of them.

"How do you know?" Rachel asks. Brittany just points at the fresh blood trail leading in that direction. Before Quinn or Rachel could protest Brittany takes off towards the open doorway. The hallway is dark, but she can see a light at the end of the tunnel. She shoulders Santana's shotgun as she runs down the hallway. She can vaguely hear her friends call to her to slow down, but she doesn't. Time wasn't on their side. The light at the end of the tunnel opens up to a large room. Brittany doesn't take the time to clear it. Her eyes landed on a giant yellow monster directly in front of her. It must be a pantry off the room... but Brittany doesn't even register this. All she sees is the creature, and directly behind it, Santana. Brittany screams as she pulls the trigger while aiming at the mutant's head. She didn't realize how close she was until the bullet impacts the skull of the creature, and is sprayed the creature's blood. She shoots two more rounds into its chest before before the creature flails it's nailed board at her launches her into the wall nearby.

As her body hits the wall, Brittany's eyes open. "Santana!" She gasps out.

"Whoa Brittany... its okay. You're okay." it takes her a moment to realize that she just woke up from a dream. A really really bad dream, but a dream none the less. Suffice to say this recurring nightmare was pretty accurate to what really happened in the Germantown police station. Everything but the ending. You see when Brittany didn't wake up at that moment she hit the wall she usually sees Quinn and Rachel finishing off the creature just like it had actually happened. However the worst part in her dream was that Santana was dead in the pantry room, she always gets there too late to save her. It was heart wrenching seeing Santana's lifeless body every night. It was nights like these when she woke up before standing over Santana's lifeless body that she felt a little relieved since she usually woke up in tears if she didn't. Quinn places her arms around Brittany who was practically hyperventilating now. "Hey... shh its okay B. We're all safe, including Santana." Brittany nods in the blonde's embrace while trying to catch her breath.

"I really hate that dream." She feels Quinn nod. She couldn't count how many times she had to comfort the tall blonde after waking up from the nightmare, the truth was they were all affected by that night. Brittany however was still suffering, she seems stuck in this never ending cycle, and Quinn didn't know how to break it. She just hopes Santana will be able to, now that she was awake.

"I know B... but its just a dream... and Santana is safe in real life, right."

Brittany pulls away from her friend in order to check on Santana, who was still sleeping soundly thanks to the boatloads of drugs the doctors gave her that morning. "She's going to be okay." Brittany says as she wipes her eyes. She hadn't left the girl's side since she had woken up hours ago. The doctors had pretty much confirmed that the inflammation of the brain had gone down, and from their initial observation Santana didn't seem to be showing signs of brain damage. She was confused, of course who wouldn't be after being in a coma for 125 days. After being pumped full of MED-x, stimpax and any other pain reliever they had in stock, Santana had fallen to sleep and Brittany waited patiently by her side.

"How long has she been asleep?" Quinn asks as she makes her way around the medical bed in order to hold Santana's other hand while she slept. Brittany has yet to release Santana's other hand since she had woken up. She found herself squeezing it ever so often just to see Santana flinch.

"Um... " Brittany looks at her pipboy. "13 hrs give or take."

"Damn... you would think she wouldn't be able to sleep after you know... the coma." Quinn whispers the last part.

"The doctors gave her a lot of drugs for the pain... it pretty much put her to sleep instantly."

"But she is going to be okay... what did the doctors say?"

Brittany shrugs. "They say her chances are good... a miracle actually. They expect her to recover in a couple days. Her ribs have pretty much healed while she was ... asleep. Her shoulder will take some time though... most of the ligaments were torn, they said they were going to inject a couple stimpacks directly on the joint and muscle in order to restrengthen it. There could be a chance it never fully recovers. Her eye is still bandaged up but the doctor says she can take it off as soon as she's fully awake. They gave me an eye patch... they want to make sure it's covered."

"An eye patch? Nice. She'll look like a sexy pirate." Quinn tries to joke but Brittany doesn't smile. It was a touchy subject altogether.

"So where are you going... work?" Brittany asks after a long moment. Quinn nods. She was currently dressed in the security armor of Rivet City. Which surprisingly looked good on the shorter blonde, Quinn hated the helmet she had to wear though. It gave her a wicked case of helmet hair.

"Yeah Sam is covering for me right now... he said he was going to come down later with some food for you. You've lost a lot of weight... but then again... so has San."

"Thank you Quinn... I really appreciate it." They had all gotten jobs since arriving at Rivet City. Quinn was offered a position on the security force after helping take down a pickpocketer. Brittany had gotten a job working at a small cafe in the marketplace. It didn't pay much, but she got by. The majority of their savings went towards Santana's medical care.

"So... um has Rachel been by yet?" Quinn asked casually. Brittany nods. Rachel visited Santana earlier. "How... how did she look?"

"Better... she looked clean." Brittany says. Shortly after arriving in Rivet City Rachel relapsed. The ship was a haven for addicts. They even had a shop in the Marketplace that sold to anyone with the caps. Rachel didn't stand a chance of staying clean here... and Quinn pretty much lost it after she found her in Paulie Cantelli's room strung out on psycho. The two of them fought, which resulted in Rachel disappearing into the vast underbelly of Rivet City. This was another reason Quinn joined the security team... in hopes to find Rachel and apologize, but for now she would have to get her updates form Brittany, who Rachel seemed to visit at least once a week. Brittany couldn't help but notice the sadness flash across Quinn's face. Everything had changed since Santana got hurt, she just prayed now that Santana was awake things would get better... for everyone.

"Did she ask about me?" Quinn couldn't even look at Brittany as she asked.

"She said she was doing better... she got a job at the Muddy Rudder in the lower decks... she said she misses you, but um I don't think she wants to see you yet." Brittany watches her friend start to pace around the room

"Really?" Brittany nods. "But she looked good." Brittany nods again.

"Really good actually. Like she did before all that crap that happened in Megaton." Quinn smiles at that.

"Good... good. I-I should um... I need to get going. Um, if Santana wakes back up send a guard to come and find me." Quinn backs up towards the clinic door.

"Okay... I will."

"I'm really happy she's okay Britt."

"Me too." Quinn waves goodbye before leaving for her shift. Brittany lays her head back down on the cot, looking up towards Santana's sleeping face. "I love you San." she mutters as she closes her eyes again.

Brittany was woken by a gentle shake. "San?" her eyes open up as she looks towards Santana hoping to see her beautiful brown eyes looking back at her, however the girl's eyes were still closed. She looks next to her and sees a familiar face standing next to her. "Sam? What are you doing here?" she asks.

"Didn't Quinn say I was stopping by? I brought you some food from the marketplace I hope noodles and beef broth is okay." the man holds out the bowl. "Angela Staley said she would cover your shift until Santana is fully awake." The man says.

"Oh, yeah, thanks Sam." Brittany yawns as she stretches out. The noodles in her lap were semi warm, but they did look pretty good.

"So how the patient?"

"She still is sleeping... however she was mumbling some stuff earlier, I thought she might open her eyes, but she must have been dreaming." Brittany sets the bowl of noodles down next to her. She was hungry but for some reason she couldn't find the power to eat.

"Hey, you should at least try to eat some of that..." Sam points to the discarded meal. "You need to keep your strength up."

"I'll eat it." Sam looks at her sternly. "I promise okay." Sam was always looking after her. He was nice even for a guard.

Santana gasps awake. The pain was back, and it hurt like a bitch. Her body starts to convulse slightly. The overall action startles Brittany causing her to knock the bowl of noodles next to her onto the floor.

"Doctor! She's awake!" Brittany yells for Dr. Preston who immediately enters the room. Brittany tries her best to restrain Santana's movements. "What's wrong with her..."

"Its not a seizure." the doctor shines a light into Santana's eyes. "It could be from the pain. I'll go get her some-"

"NO!" Santana grits out between clenched teeth. "No more drugs."

"San baby... your in pain you should take something-"

Santana rolls her head towards Brittany and smiles. "I'm fine... really." It didn't sound very convincing as she shudders at the pain rolling through her.

"As your doctor, I strongly advised you to take something-" Santana's body finally relaxes as she gains some control over it. She lets out a shaky breath as she forces herself to ignore the pain coursing through her.

"Really I'm fine. Okay." Brittany doesn't seem convinced. "Though, I am a little thirsty."

"I can go grab some water for you." Brittany says.

"No Brittany... I'll go, you should stay here." Sam says as he quickly leaves the room.

Santana lets out another gasp as another wave a pain flashes through her. "Fuck." Dr. Preston goes about checking her vitals. He checks her heart rate which seems slightly sporadic, but considering the circumstances it isn't unusual. "Santana... can you tell me what day it is." Santana scoffs .

"No doctor... I can't." 'Who the fuck remembers the date.' She thinks.

"How about this girl next to you... do you remember her name." he points to Brittany.

"Yes... that beautiful girl is Brittany." This makes Brittany blush.

"And do you remember where you are?"

"Rivet City."

"Good... usually a patient experiences some short term memory loss after coming out of a coma. You seem to be healing quite quickly." The doctor writes down something on his chart before turning his attention to the monitors in the room. "I'll get you another saline bag."

Sam reenters the small clinic with a bottle of water. "Here..." he hands it to Brittany. "I should be getting back to work... Quinn is in the lower decks looking for Rachel so I think I go and tell her that Santana's finally awake, she's been talking about it all day. If that's okay with you." he asks Brittany.

"Yeah, thanks Sam... I'm sure Quinn would like to know." Sam leaves the clinic.

"Now that guy... I don't remember?" Santana says as she watches the two interactions. She didn't like it.

"That's Sam... he's Quinn's partner. Here..." Brittany uncaps the purified water bottle.

"Not too much of that Brittany, and make sure you sit her up a little. We wouldn't want her to choke." The doctor says as he leaves the room, giving the girls some privacy. Brittany does what she's told and sits Santana up as best as possible cradling her in her arms as she tips the purified water into Santana's awaiting dry mouth. Santana coughs slightly as she tries to drink the water. It was just what she needed... her mouth had felt as dry as the Mohave.

"More..." she gasps when Brittany pulls the bottle away. Brittany shakes her head no as she lowers Santana back onto the bed.

"You heard the doctor... you can't have a lot." Brittany pours a little bit of water on her fingers and then lightly runs her fingers across Santana's chapped lips. "How does that feel?"

"Good... thank you" Santana strains to try to sit up but Brittany stops her. "How long was I asleep for?"

"15 hours." Brittany says as she runs her fingers over Santana's lips again.

"You haven't left my side have you?" Brittany shakes her head no.

"I slept down here with you... just in case you woke back up. I didn't want you to be surrounded by un familiar faces."

Quinn rushes into the room a few minutes later. "Oh my god S... you're awake." this was the most emotion Brittany has seen from the blonde guard since they arrived. Everyone copes differently, Quinn pretty much shut down all of her emotions, blocking out the people closest to her... including Rachel. The shorter blonde hugs Santana lightly, making sure not to cause any more pain.

"Hey Q. It's good to see you." Santana smiles. "Looking good in that uniform... what are you a guard?"

"A security officer to be exact. Sam told me you were awake... so I came right here."

"So where's the midget, I thought for sure she would be attached to your side coming in here." Santana doesn't miss Quinn flinch at the mention of Rachel's name.

"Rachel was here earlier. She said she would stop by after work to check to see if you were up." Brittany explains. The room goes quiet after that.

"How come I feel like I'm missing something... what's going on?" Santana looks from Brittany to Quinn for her answers. The two of them were acting weird... or weirder than normal.

"Things have changed since Big Town..." Brittany tries to explain.

"Rachel won't come to see you if I'm here." Quinn interrupted.

"What? Why?"

"It's complicated." Brittany tries to end the conversation there. She knew it was something Quinn hated to talk about, and usually result in some harsh words being thrown followed by Quinn completely shutting down and leaving angry.

"I fucked up... while you were... asleep or in a coma... I fucked up and Rachel pretty much hates me now." Quinn says as she burst into tears. For some reason talking to Santana was a lot easier than then talking to Brittany. This was the first time she had seen Quinn break down.

Santana really didn't know what to do. It was weird hearing about the things that had happened while she was wandering through the endless maze of her mind. It felt like just hours ago the four of them were laughing in a Big Town as they goofed around in their shack.

Rachel did in fact come to see her later that night. Santana found herself unable to sleep. She sent Brittany back to her room to shower, change, and get something to eat since her noodles where spilt across the floor hours before. Rachel looked different than the last time she saw her. 'Thinner... tired maybe?' from what she gathered Quinn had shut her out after arriving in Rivet City, which forced Rachel to feel 'abandoned' as she put it which resulted in a relapse. Rachel however is currently sober once again.

The next couple of day's seems to drag on as Santana lay in her medical bed. The doctor wouldn't let her leave. Which was weird because she felt fine. The majority of her wounds was healed, sure she was sore, but the overwhelming pain had subsided. Even her shoulder was doing better, the doctors had pumped it full of stimpacts, so it was no longer in a sling. Sure it wasn't completely healed... the doctors actually explained that her shoulder may not be as strong as it use to be, but it wasn't crippled, and she could still move it. Brittany spent the nights with her, sleeping next to her in her medical bed. That was the best part having her actually here with her.

Brittany was helping her rotate her shoulder before she had to leave for work. Physical therapy was something she had to do three times a day, which included taking short walks around the hallways, but the doctor didn't let her go far. Santana was growing restless being cooped up in the dingy clinic, she wanted to get up and explore this new place, but Brittany kept insisting she take it easy until she was back to her full strength.

"I just don't see why I can't come with you to work..." Santana grunts as Brittany slowly rotates her shoulder.

"You heard the doctor... you can't over exert yourself." Brittany explains for the hundrenth time. Santana tries her best pout, hoping Brittany will reconsider and talk to the doctor.

"Brittany I'm fine... really. I feel as good as new... look I'm even wearing this god awful pirate patch. Please, I promise I'll just sit at a table the whole time." Santana pleads. She really did hate the pirate patch, but it was better than seeing the damaged eye underneath. The doctors had taken off the bandages yesterday, and said it looked good. Truthfully this was the one thing that was making Santana so anxious... and well a little mad. She was blind, and that made the incident much more real. You see she couldn't remember what had happened to her. All she knew was what had happened before she was hurt, but seeing the damage they left made her furious. Brittany could tell that Santana was just trying to be useful... but a part of her wanted her to stay in bed until she was able to stand on her own for more than a minute.

In the end she crumbles. "Fine... I'll ask the doctor, but if you start feeling light headed its right back into bed for you." Santana smiles, and pulls her legs to the edge of the bed. Brittany hops off the medical bed as well, and walks around to the other side to help Santana to her feet. "I washed your clothes for you so you don't have to walk around in the paper sheet." Brittany hands her the clothes. "Do you think you can manage while I go talk to the doctor." Santana rolls her eyes.

"Yes... I can manage just fine." Santana unties the paper sheet and lets it fall to the floor. Brittany can't help but pause, taking in Santana's body. It was leaner than she remembered but what can you expect to be in a coma for so long. However, even with the weight loss Santana looked flawless... she had a few scars on her body but nothing too noticeable. "You like what you see?" Santana jokes.

Brittany smiles shyly looking away from Santana. "You're so beautiful San..." she whispers before making eye contact with the brunette. Santana motions Brittany to come closer. Even though she had been awake for a few days now the two hadn't been very touchy feely.

"Hey... what's wrong." Santana hugs Brittany pulling her close into her body. Brittany lets out her shaky breath. It felt so good to be in Santana's arms, she didn't want to leave.

"Nothing... its just. I'm so happy you're okay... I thought I would never get hold you like this again."

"Naked?" Santana says smugly.

"Sssaaannn..."

"I'm sorry. I couldn't help it." Brittany tilts Santana's chin up and captured Santana's lips ever so lightly. It was the first time since she woke up that they kissed, and it was perfect. For Santana it felt like a dream, as though Brittany were going to disappear at any moment. Santana holds Brittany closer. For Brittany it was heaven, it had been so long since she felt alive. And that's what Santana made her feel like... alive. Without her she felt like a shell of her former self, but now with her awake and for the most part healed she felt like her world was slowly coming back together. When they pull apart to catch their breath Brittany is no longer crying. Santana wipes away any remaining tears from Brittany face and kisses her one more time.

"You should probably go and talk to the doctor... I still need to change so." Santana says as she pulls away. Brittany nods before disappearing out of the room to talk to the doctor. In the end he agrees to allow Santana to go with her providing that she did stand for more than 10 minutes, and returned to bed if she experiences any discomfort. When Brittany walks back in the room Santana was fully clothed. Well almost. She still needed to put on her beater, but was having trouble with it.

"Do you need some help?" Brittany asks.

Santana reluctantly nods... 'stupid beater.' Brittany helps ease her arms over her head as she pulls on the stained shirt. "What happened to the leather armor I was wearing?"

"Well... when we found you, it was pretty much torn to shreds. Red, she had to cut most of it off you."

"Oh... it's still hard to believe that all happened." Santana says as she adjusts her top. Brittany nods. It wasn't hard to believe for her, in fact she was haunted by her memories of that day almost endlessly. "What about my shotgun.?"

"You won't need it, trust me."

Santana felt naked without her weapon, but she trusted Brittany, "are you ready to show me around the ship?" Santana pulls Brittany from her thoughts.

"Sure... but we are only going to the market place... I need to work." Brittany helps guild the shaky Latina up the stairs towards the market place.

"This place is huge." Satana mutters as Brittany leads her through the maze like hallways of the boat. In some ways it kind felt like the vault, except darker and with more people. "How do you know where you're going?"

"Um... over each doorway you'll see a number that corresponds with the deck you're on and what side of the boat. It was really confusing at first, but I know my way to a few places on the ship. The Marketplace being one of them... between there, and the clinic I really haven't had time to venture around much. I know you can get to the top deck of the boat if you go all the way up the stairs. Quinn says it's really pretty up there just before dark. I also have a room at the Weatherly Hotel up on one of the upper floors. I haven't slept there very often, but it's nicer than the places we've stayed in before."

"Well maybe we can talk the doctor in letting me sleep there tonight since you're renting it... I wouldn't want it to go to waste. What about Quinn?"

"She spends most of her day either working or up in the guards quarters, and the last I heard Rachel moved into the common room on one of the lower decks."

"I still can't believe Quinn and Rachel are fighting."

"They just need some time to talk it out between them, but I have a feeling they'll work everything out."

"I hope so." Brittany opens the metal door to the marketplace and leads Santana through the raised thresh hold. The marketplace was huge, and filled with vendors and random people. "Wow." This was a lot of people in enclosed space.

"Come on... I'll show you where I work" Brittany leads Santana through the crowd of people. A few of the local venders say hi to her as they past their makeshift store huts. "That place on the left is Flak 'n Shrpnel's shop. They sell weapons mostly... and that place right across from it is the Potomac Attire, the shop owner is named Brandon... and he is one of the city's council members. He seems nice, but Quinn has mentioned he has a power fetish... he sells armor, and casual clothes. A Quick Fix is right next to it... I try to avoid that place altogether. They sell chems... Cindy is usually the one selling, which is ok according to the law in Rivet City, but it's illegal to make them on board. Most of the drug raids are on small Chem labs trying to turn a profit on the boat. Cindy husband is an addict, but you won't see him up here very often, Rachel talked about him once... while she was using. Evidently that's where she got her drugs from when she relapsed. You won't see Rachel up here any more though, she says it's too tempting when they sell it out in public. They sell booze too." Brittany describes the shops as they pass them. "Then there is the Rivet City Supply. I don't like that place, the guy who runs it is a creep, and this is where I work." Brittany stops at the final place. "This is Gary's galley... they sell food. Gary Stanley is a nice guy, Sam got him to give me a job, his daughter works here too. That's Angela." Brittany points to the blonde sweeping the floor. "She really nice too... there are rumors going around though, that she sleeping around with Diego... who I haven't met, but works in the chapel I think." Brittany has to catch her breath for a moment.

"This place... reminds me of the vault... you know, but with more people."

"Yeah I thought that too when we first got here... its more crowded though. The vault seemed to be quieter... this place is insane."

"Brittany, I need you to start taking orders." Gary the tall blonde store owner yells at her from behind the counter.

" I'm coming... okay I have to get to work... here, sit here and I'll get you something to eat."

"Don't worry about me... I'll be fine you just get to work." Santana says as she sits down at the counter top. Brittany quickly gets to work with the morning rush. The Galley was packed like always even though the food wasn't the greatest. Santana kept herself entertained by people watching. This place was busy, and from what she could tell most of the people here were from the wasteland looking to trade some of their scavenged goods for a few caps.

Brittany stoped to talk to her every time there was a break in customers. She refills Santana's water numerous times, and even brought her a pre-war book for her to read. She was feeling rather good today. That was until a rude boy came up to her and asked her about her eye patch. This made her uncomfortable. Most of the time she wasn't even aware she was wearing the damn patch... but the longer she sat there the more she felt the eyes of a passing stranger on her as they walked by.

"Fucking assholes." she mutters under her breath as she tries to hide herself from the onlookers. She felt as though the room was whispering about her. Evidently she was big news on the boat. A survivor of sorts.

"Look at all of these people looking at you " a familiar voice rings in her ears. Santana looks next to her and sees Snix taking a seat next to her. The doppelganger didn't have a patch on her eye. "Don't look at me like that." Snix smirks as she spins around on her bar stool for fun.

"Why the fuck are you here?"

"I am always here... and I will always be here. I'm just not in control at the moment." Snix says nonchalantly.

"Fuck you, go away." Santana murmurs a little too loudly drawing the attention of a passer by. "What are you looking at!" she snaps at the random lady who quickly scoffs and moves away. 'Fucking right lady… come back here and look at me like I'm crazy, I will go all types of Vault 101 on your ass.'

"You can't blame them... look at you. You look like an abused slave that escaped some derange torture room." Snix spins In her chair again.

"Shut up," Santana practically growls.

"All they see is weakness... that's what you are a weak helpless child, they pity you. Look at them… 'oh that poor child' that's what they're all thinking."

"I am not weak!" Santana yells drawing the attention from the crowd. A few stop to see what was wrong.

"Yes you are." Snix smirks.

"Babe... are you okay? What's wrong?" Brittany heard the outburst and quickly made her way towards the brunette. Santana looked so angry.

"I am not weak." She says again.

"Babe... I don't understand." Brittany sets down a tray of food to try to help Santana calm down.

"God she is so beautiful... you should let me out so I can play with her."Snix stands, and starts circling Brittany.

"Go away!" Santana yells at her double who was standing right behind Brittany lightly touching her shoulder. Brittany takes a step back at the outburst she didn't know what she did wrong.

"San... what's wrong? Do you want me to take you back to the room?"

"No.. I'm fine okay. Stop treating me like I'm made out of glass. I'm not helpless." Santana stands up from her stool knocking it down in the process

"No one is saying you are."

"Everyone's thinking it!"

"Is everything okay here?" during her outburst Santana had successfully drawn a crowd, including a few security personal, one of which was Sam.

"Where fine Sam... Santana is just a little upset." Sam makes his way towards Brittany, the blonde boy only made Santana angrier. Brittany had talked about the guard on a few occasions over the past few days, and no matter how nice she made him sound Santana could shake this feeling growing inside her.

"Look at Trouty Mouth... he is all over our girl" Snix whispers into Santana's ear. "I wonder how many times this guy has touched Brittany... its obvious he wants to. He's like a little lost puppy dog following her around. So what do you think, should we let him walk away alive? I guess you should've brought your shotgun, although that butter knife in front of you will work just as well." Santana hates that Snix was making the situation worst. "We should just kill him now, before he steals Brittany away from us altogether. At least then these fuckers would fear you... just like they should. You could do Santana... it would be so easy... do it." Snix mutters sweetly into her ear as she watches Sam and Brittany talk to each other. "You know I'm right, just listen to aunty Snix... she always knows best."

"You know what, fuck this, I'm going back to the room." Santana interrupts whatever Brittany and Sam were discussing. "It's getting way too crowded in here." she brushes by Sam and makes her way towards the stairwell.

"Santana wait... I can walk you back. Angela... can you-"

"No Britt I appreciate you looking after me, but I am a grown ass woman ... and I can walk back to the room myself." with that Santana turn and leaves.

"What was that all about" Sam asks as they watch Santana make her way towards the stairwell.

Brittany was already taking off her apron in order to follow. "She's just overwhelmed, I think. I mean she was fine a minute ago... then the next." Brittany shakes her head as she tries to understand Santana's sudden mood swing. "I think she was upset with some of the people. You know how this place is... everyone is in everyone's business. Santana seems to be on the tongue of everyone here."

"Well of course she is, you all are. I mean its a surreal story."

"You haven't even heard it."

"No... but you've told me things... and Quinn has too."

"It's a lot more complicated than what I've told you... look I should go, she might get lost." Brittany tosses her apron on the counter as she waves towards Angela.

"Wait Brittany... I actually needed to talk to you about something that's why I came here, I knew you were going back at work today."

"Yeah... of course Sam, what's up?" she tries her best not to sound impatient.

"Well you know that question you asked me a while back."

"Yeah."

"Well I think I found the doctor you looking for, and he lives here in Rivet city."

"Really... who is it. I mean I talked to every doctor on this boat and they all said the same thing, that it's impossible, or too dangerous."

"Not according to my source."

"Well tell me what he said."

"The doctor is a man named Pinkerton... evidently he was one of the founding fathers of Rivet City... and he is even rumored to have done advanced surgery on the runaway android everyone is talking about."

"Do you think he's still here?"

"I don't know... I'll ask around maybe some of the council members know. Either way he could be the answer you were looking for." Sam says in a harsh tone.

"Yeah thanks... keep your ears open for me. I haven't even had time to talk to Santana about this... we haven't really had time to talk about anything. Thanks Sam... you've been a really nice friend throughout this, if you hear anything else I would greatly appreciate it. But I really should go... Santana might need me."

"Wait Britt I had one more thing to ask you... I know you've been under a lot of stress lately but now that Santana's awake I thought that maybe we could I don't know have dinner one night... as friends." Sam adds.

"Um yeah... sure why not. I'll talk to you later okay." Brittany waves as she jogs after Santana, she just hoped the Latina hadn't taken a wrong turn on her way back to the clinic room.

* * *

><p>This place was like a maze.<p>

"Stupid pretty boy Sam... how dare he. I mean did you see him he was all over Brittany back there." Santana stagers around the hallway followed closely by Snix. She had no idea where she was at this point but her building anger had clouded her form thinking rationally. Now she was lost somewhere in the belly of Rivet City. "Just great... now I'm lost... Snix for the love of god tell me you know where we are."

"Your kidding right... I ain't no GPS babe... if you're lost that means I am too..."

"This is just fucking fantastic... you are the worst double ever."

"God I love it when you're all angry like this... its got to be better than sex."

"Shut up." Santana rounds the corner and notices a sign above the next door. 'The Muddy Rudder'

"Isn't that where Rachel works?" Santana says to herself... and Snix which was technically herself... whatever. Frustrated and tired Santana opens the door, sure enough it was a very grungy rundown bar. Entering the Muddy Rudder she notices she above the actual bar, the stairs to her right lead her down to the bar stools... most of which were bare. There was only a single lady here, besides the two bartenders one of which was Rachel.

Rachel drops the empty beer bottles she had been cleaning up from the makeshift bar when she notices Santana coming down the stairs.

"Santana... what a-are you doing here?"

"I'm thirsty what do you think." Rachel rolls her eyes.

"Ooh I like this girl." the old lady sitting at the bar says. "Why don't you come on over here and buy me a drink."

"Shut up Tammy please, she doesn't want to buy you a damn drink, in fact I'm cutting you off... So please finish that then leave." The older lady scowls before slamming the rest of her drink. She tosses some caps on the counter top and leaves without another word. "Does Brittany know where you are?" Santana sits down at the bar and shrugs.

"Brittany was busy talking to someone... I don't think she knows I even left."

"San... I'm assuming you're talking about Samuel, who I know for a fact is only a friend. Whatever you're thinking... you know it isn't-"

"Whatever Rach... now what's good here to drink." Santana interrupts.

"We got everything you need... beer, scotch, whisky wine, you name it we've got it." the other barmaid says.

"Belle please stay out of this."

"I'll take the strongest thing you have."

"Good choice misses."

"Yeah whatever, just pour me the drink and leave the bottle." Santana looks back to Rachel, and notices the glare the girl was giving her. "What Rachel... I've been in a coma for months, I think I deserve a drink." Belle places a tall glass of scotch in front of her.

"Whatever is going on in that head of yours Santana needs to stop... alcohol is the last thing you should be drinking." Santana scoffs.

"Says the drug addict." Santana regret saying that almost immediately, so much so that she couldn't turn to see the pain register on her friend's face.

"You know what, I am an addict.. Santana I know what I am, so the fact that you're trying to hurt me by saying shit like that just proves my point that you shouldn't be drinking. Whatever your feeling, whatever is going through that head of yours isn't worth getting drunk over. And that's what makes me stronger than you... I know my weaknesses, and that was what my relapse was, weakness." Santana finishes off her glass and pours herself another, she really didn't want to hear Rachel call her weak, and the fact that it was true made it worse. Snix laughs next to her. "Do you want to know who made me weak..." Santana brings the glass to her lips, "you did... you made me weak." Rachel point to her.

Santana slams her glass back onto the bar spilling most of it. "You know what Rachel, fuck you... are you really blaming me for using, really? That is completely fucked up and you know it."

Rachel nods and sits down next to Santana, she grabs a glass and pours herself a drink. "Yeah, I know it's messed up... this whole thing is messed up..." Rachel takes a drink. "But that doesn't make it any less true." the two girls go silent, finding the bottom of their glasses more interesting than what was happening around them. "Look I didn't know how much Brittany has told you about... the police station, but you should talk to her, because I know for a fact that what was affecting me is still affecting her. The only difference is I gave into that pain, and tried to release it by being destructive, and eventually I dealt with that pain... Brittany hasn't. She's still in pain, and no matter how happy she may seem no matter how much she smiles, that pain is eating her away, and you are the only one who can help her release it." Rachel finishes off her glass and pours another. Santana was feeling slightly light headed. She was never much of a drinker, and because of that her tolerance level was very low. The scotch was already making her feel a little fuzzy.

The two girls sat in silence for what seemed like forever before. Santana decides to break the silence. "We haven't talked... not really. I mean I know what happened... the doctors explained everything to me, but it's like it didn't happen, and as much as I want to talk to Brittany about it i... i-m afraid. Afraid of hearing about how much you guys went through all because of me."

"It's okay to be afraid... we all are at some point, but Brittany needs you, and think about how afraid she is. The thought of losing you was so unbearable that she risked her life to save you. You need to let her talk about it, encourage her , because she isn't hurting so badly San... and you are the only one she'll talk to."

"You're right." Santana takes another swig, the alcohol no longer burned going down her throat, in fact it tasted rather pleasant. "Shit... I think that last one was one too many. At least Snix has stopped talking my ear off." Santana mumbles. Rachel gives her a strange look before finishing off her drink as well.

"Yeah... so, do you want me to walk you back to the room. I'm sure Brittany is worried about you, since her shift ended twenty minutes ago."

"Fuck Rachel I am so lost... I don't even know how I got down here..." Santana slurs a little. Maybe medication and alcohol didn't mix very well, because she was definitely feeling the scotch.

"Well I can help you back to your room, come on." Rachel throws some caps on the bar, then helps Santana to her feet, giving her some support.

Meanwhile across the ship Brittany was frantically searching for Santana. She had checked the clinic, but Santana had been nowhere in sight. The guards on this level weren't very helpful either, since none of them seem to have seen Santana wandering the halls. "Oh my god... no she lost..." Brittany mutters to herself as she searches for Santana. "I knew I should've gone with her." she practically runs Quinn over as she rounds the next corridor.

"Damn Britt where's the fire."

"She's lost Quinn... I lost her, and now I can't find her, and no one has seen her. I don't know what to do-" Brittany says frantically.

"Whoa, Brittany calm down... who did you lose?"

"Santana... she came with me to work but left. I swear I only talked to Sam for like a minute, but when I went to catch up with her... I think she might be lost on the ship somewhere. You know how easy it is to get turned around on here."

"Yeah of course I do Britt, we'll find her okay. No where have you looked?"

"I think I looked for her on this whole half of the ship, she didn't go back to the clinic, and she isn't in any of the labs, and the guards I talked to on the floor say they haven't seen her."

"Okay that's good... she could be on the upper deck... have you looked to see if she's went to your hotel room?"

"No... no I haven't. I didn't even think of that."

"Okay, well I want you to go up there and check around while I take the floor beneath this one. We'll find her... I promise." Brittany nods as she heads towards the stairwell that would lead her to the upper deck. "Hey if she's not up there staying in your room okay!" Quinn yells after her.

Quinn makes her way to the lower deck. This is where the majority of the lower class wastelanders lived. It was dirty, hot, and all together darker than the other more maintained floors of the aircraft carrier. Security found themselves down here more than they liked, dealing with issues, if Santana was down here it could take some time to locate her. As she rounds the corner of the poorly lit hallways she notices the Muddy Rudder bar sign over the doorway. Quinn stops once she sees it, ever since talking to Brittany earlier in the week, she knew Rachel had gotten a job in the rundown bar. It takes all of Quinn will power to respect Rachel's boundaries. She knew if Rachel wanted to see her she would have found her long ago, Rachel was so good at avoiding her, if she had wanted to talk to her she wouldn't have been so hard to locate. Knowing Rachel was avoiding her hurt, but Quinn wanted to respect Rachel's boundaries, and just as she was about to leave, the bar hatch opens, and out comes Rachel and Santana. Rachel sees Quinn as soon as the door shuts behind her, but only falters for a second before composing herself.

"You found her." Quinn's voice squeaks as the two girls get closer to her, she moves out of their way so they can pass.

"Yeah... she stumbled into the bar a little while ago, and Belle thought it would be okay to actually serve her."

"Brittany is worried sick about you, she tried to find you after you left the marketplace." Quinn follows behind the two, as soon as they get to the stairwell Quinn helps Rachel with Santana. "I told her to wait in her room... so we should probably take her to the upper deck." Quinn explains. The tension between Rachel and Quinn wasn't unnoticeable, and a few drinks didn't stop Santana from seeing that.

"I fine, really guys. I just got a little turned around." Santana slurs over her words.

"How much did she have to drink" Quinn asks as she stumbles holding Santana up as they stumble up the stairs.

"Two glasses of scotch."

"Dammit Santana you know Brittany has been freaking, and now you're drunk."

"I am not drunk... I'm just a little tipsy... and tired Quinn."

"She's fine, okay Quinn... she just... stressed." the three of them go quiet as they lead Santana to the upper deck. Santana hasn't been on this floor yet... it looked nice, well nicer than where she just was. A lot of the familiar faces were the same ones she saw in the marketplace.

"Here we are." Quinn knocks on the giant metal door just past the hotel's main lobby. The door swings open revealing a tearful Brittany.

"Oh my god... San, you found her."

"She stumbled into the muddy rudder... I'm sorry Britt I didn't know you were looking for her otherwise I would have brought her up here sooner." Rachel says as she helps Santana into the room.

"I'm sorry Britt... I just got so mad. I just needed to cool off. I didn't mean to make you worry." Santana hugs Brittany.

"She may have drank a little scotch in the bar, hence all the clinginess." Santana buries herself further into Brittany's neck.

"That's okay... I'm just happy you found her."

"Well... I should go. I'll talk to you guys later." Rachel says as she waves goodbye to Brittany, and backs out of the room. Quinn who has been quiet, silently says good bye to Santana and Brittany before running after Rachel.

"Rachel... wait." Quinn catches her before she disappears on her again. She stops Rachel by grabbing her hand only to have Rachel pull away from her completely. "Please Rachel just stop for a moment."

"Why Quinn... what could you possibly have to say to me." Rachel goes to leave but Quinn stops her again.

"Can we please talk. I mean you have been avoiding me like the plague, I just want to talk to you. I miss you so much and being away from you... it hurts so please just... don't... run away from me." Quinn pleads.

"Fine... but can we go somewhere more private, the last thing I want is the ship to start gossiping about us."

"Yeah sure. I know the perfect place."

Meanwhile in Brittany's hotel room, Brittany helps Santana into her large bed. Brittany busies herself by helping Santana take off her shoes.

"I sorry about earlier..." Santana says when she realizes Brittany wasn't going to be the one to start talking about what happened back in the marketplace. "I didn't mean to yell, or cause a scene. It just... ever one there was starting at me... and it just I felt like some sort of freak."

"Santana we don't need to talk about this now... we should wait unit morning."

" I want you to know you can talk to me, I feel like there is this distance between us right now… and I don't like it." Brittany tucks Santana into bed before crawling in behind her and wrapping her arms around her. "Britt there is something I need to talk to you about."

"Yeah?"

"This Sam guy... you don't like him like him do you?"

"What... no, Sam is just a friend that's all. Is that why you were so angry before?"

Santana shurgs in Brittany's arms, "It was part of the reason. I mean I feel like I came back and everything has changed. I just wanted to make sure we were good."

"I promise you San... Sam is just a friend. Now go to sleep, we can talk more in the morning." the room goes quiet.

"Britt?"

"Hmm?"

"You're not mad at me, are you?"

"No sweetie... I'm not mad. I was really scared when I couldn't find you today, it brought back some unpleasant memories."

* * *

><p>Quinn had led Rachel to the flight deck so they could talk. It was strung with Christmas lights and littered with broken down airplanes from before the apocalypse, but it I the best place to get some privacy since in order to get up there you need to go through the city's security quarters, which isn't open to the public.<p>

"It's nice up here." Rachel sits down on the edge of the boat so her legs are hanging over.

"It's the best place in Rivet City." they sit there for a while before Quinn musters up the courage to speak but before she can Rachel interrupts her.

"Quinn it just me okay, so just tell me what you need to say." Rachel tries her best not to show what she was really feeling.

"You... you look good." Quinn stutteres out.

"That's it?" Rachel jokes.

"No I mean, Brittany told me you looked good, I guess she was right. How long have you been?"

"A few weeks..." Rachel kicks her legs back and forth.

"Good... and your withdrawals haven't..."

"They haven't been very bad... I've been keeping myself busy with work, and talking to the priest at the church. They actually have a support group that meets every other day. It helps, there are a lot of people here that are recovering addicts as well, it's nice to sit there and hear their stories."

"That's good, I'm glad. That's your doing better that is"

"Quinn will you please stop beating about the bush, and say what you need to say." Quinn nods.

"Okay... I'm sorry. I let you down. I let everyone down, but you the most. I got so caught up in my head I didn't even realize I was pushing you away until it was too late."

"Quinn as hard as it might seem to believe I don't blame you... I did at first, to justify my actions and giving in to my weaknesses, but I know those were just excuses. We were all affected by Santana getting hurt, your weakness was shutting down and shutting us out. Mine was turning back to my old ways… its just how we choose to deal with our emotions."

"I didn't mean to, it's just seeing Santana there on the floor broken, It hurt, and I don't know I just couldn't stop myself from thinking that if I could have been there she would have been fine. If I could have been at her side she would have walked away from the fight like she should have, but she didn't. And I really didn't know how to deal with those emotions. They ate me up, consumed me…" They go quiet for a moment the only noise they could hear was coming from the decks below them and the slight creaking of the grounded ship. "I've never felt more out of control in my life, but the worst part of was losing you... I'll never forgive myself for turning my back on you where you were hurting so much…"

"Quinn please stop beating yourself up over this, I'm just as guilty as you, okay. I should have said something, or asked for help when I started drowning in my mess, but I didn't." Rachel wraps an arm around Quinn, trying her best to soothe the blonde who was one the verge of tears.

"Do you think we will ever be the same, now that Santana is awake?" Quinn wipes her eyes.

"I think so... to tell you the truth I've been avoiding you." Rachel nudges her shoulder playfully.

"Yeah, I noticed."

"I didn't want to see you... I thought you would hate me for using again. And the last time we spoke we both said some hurtful things… I didn't think you wanted to see me."

"Of course I don't hate you, that day... sucked. But I didn't hate you, I was just surprised. I mean it was my first day being a guard and the first thing I walk in on is you using in that room. I felt like I let you down. I was suppose to be there and I wasn't."

"You're here now... I know its cliché... but I miss you too... and I don't want to avoid you anymore." Quinn smiles before leaning in and capturing Rachel's lips.

* * *

><p>Brittany screams as she wakes up from yet another nightmare. "Britt babe... what's wrong?" Santana sits up to soothe the panting blonde.<p>

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you... it was just a dream." Santana doesn't buy Brittany's brush off, the girl was drenched in sweat.

"You had a nightmare... was it about-"

"No I haven't even thought of that since Big Town." Brittany interrupts the last thing she needed was to have that image intertwining with her current dreams.

"They what was it about." Brittany shrugs. "Baby you need to talk to me." Santana was no longer fazed by the booze, and it was technically morning according to her pipboy.

"It was about the Germantown police station... I've been having these recurring dreams about the night we were in the police station." Santana waits for her to continue. "After Mercedes told us you and Sugar were taken..."

"Sugar was taken too?" this was news to Santana.

"Yeah... Mercedes was hurt, but managed to make it back to Big Town."

"Is Sugar... did you save her too." Brittany smiles and nods.

"She's fine... we actually found her first. She wasn't hurt very bad, just a few scrapes, and bruises. She was more in shock than anything though. She was the one that told us where you were taken. We found you in the basement... it's weird because I can remember everything about that moment... probably because it replays so much in my dreams. We followed these blood stains in order to find you. I've never felt so helpless in my life, and the moment I saw you. You were just lying there and that creature was standing over top of you. Everything just clicked, the dread of losing you was just too much. I finally realized how fragile we are out here, outside the vault, how dangerous the world is. I understood how you felt shooting Abrams, and helping Rachel with Moriatry, and didn't flinch when I went into that school. I got off a few shots before the monster even realized I was there, and I don't know, I must have been too close, because he swung at me and lunched me across the room. I didn't even realize I was hurt until Rachel pointed it out after Quinn finished off the creature." Brittany lifts her shirt just enough for Santana to see several white scars lining the left side of her body. Out of instinct she gasps and reaches out to touch Brittany healed wounds. "Evidently the thing had nails in the end of the board he hit me with." Brittany lets her shirt fall back into place. "That's the dream I have over and over... only instead of saving you, I always seem to be too late. I usually wake up before that though." Brittany takes a moment to collect her thoughts before continuing. "To tell you the truth I can't really recall how long it took us to get you back to Big Town. Quinn had bandaged you up pretty good. Red was the one that told us to come here. Evidently, she didn't have the right medical equipment to help you there, and Megaton was out of the question. So we decided to try for Rivet City. We left that night, Larry pulled you on this makeshift litter. We followed the river for the most part... Lord Tubbington for the most part was able to sense any trouble before it is saw us. He killed a few rad scorpions and even took out a few bands of Raiders. We didn't stop to rest until the following evening. I didn't want to stop... but Rachel was struggling to keep up and Quinn... was so distant I don't think she even noticed. The next day we um...

Flashback

_"Brittany we need to stop here for the night..." Quinn says. They had just entered the outskirts of the city._

_"We should keep moving... there is still enough light to follow the river."_

_"It'll be safer following it in the morning, when we can see what the hell is in front of us." even though she knew Quinn was right she didn't want to stop now, but seeing Rachel practically fall into a heap she knew Quinn was right. Reluctantly she agrees. Quinn builds a small fire for the night while Brittany unties Larry from the makeshift cardboard wagon he had been pulling . Santana was currently tied into it to prevent her from slipping off. She was bundled in vast amounts of blankets. Brittany had to change her bandages according to Red, to prevent any infection. Rachel offered to help, but Brittany could tell the girl was practically falling to sleep._

_"It's okay Rachel I got it... you get some sleep." Quinn took first watch. The last thing they wanted was to be ambushed by any passing raiders that might see their fire in the distance._

_It was eerily quiet that night, and even though she knew she shouldn't, Brittany unbundled Santana to check to make sure she was still... well... alive. "How are you doing tonight babe..." she asks the unconscious girl. She remembers Santana saying that hurt people could hear them when you talk to them so she tried her best to sound normal. It was hard seeing her like this._

_"Shh... Britt. Did you hear that?" Quinn was behind her looks into the darkness. It wasn't very dark tonight. The sky was clear so the stars lit up the wasteland... however the rundown buildings provided enough shadows for anything to sneak up on them._

_It happened in a flash. The only warning they had was the growl from Lord Tubbington before he jumped into the darkness._

_"Lord T!" Brittany grabs Santana's combat shotgun, she just hoped that what was ever out there Lord T could handle. They heard a sharp cry of a creature before everything when quiet again. "Lord T?" the next thing she saw was a giant horned creature coming out of the shadows covered in blood. The thing was twice as tall as Lord T even though it looked hunched over. It let out a low growl as it slunk closer to them._

_"Fuck... Deathclaw... move Britt!" Quinn yells before yanking Rachel with her to put as much distance between them and the creature that looked like it just crawled out of the very pits of hell. Brittany didn't move though, she couldn't leave Santana behind. Instinctively she covers the Latina's body with her own. Gunfire erupted around her, Quinn must have started shooting. She didn't know for sure though. She looked up to see if the creature was still there and sure enough it was practically standing over her. She lets out a scream when she feels something swipe at her shoulders._

End flashback

Santana practically tears the shirt off of Brittany, and sure enough there were four claw marks starting at the base of her neck and running off her shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"

Brittany smirks "it seems so trivial now."

"You should have left me there." Santana's fingers lightly trace over the marks.

"I couldn't... that's just it. The thought being without you was unbearable... and you know you would have done the same thing if things where reverse." she had Santana there. "I didn't want to be alone... I know it's selfish, but I couldn't", she whispers.

"What happened after that?"

"Evidently the firing came from a Brotherhood of Steel patrol."

"Brotherhood of Steel?"

"They are like a private army of sorts all decked out in these 'power suits'... after the creature attacked me they drew its attention towards them... they lost one member before they killed the deathclaw. But you were safe... I don't know how it happened but shortly after the attack you started to convulse in my arms. I thought I had hurt you somehow... Quinn said it was a seizure..." Brittany has to take some time after that before she started talking again "after that they escorted us to their base... the Citadel... it's this big base completely closed off to the public."

"Was Lord T okay?"

"Yeah... the deathclaw got him pretty good but he was okay... I was worried though... the brotherhood tried to kill him. Luckily he managed to get away from the patrol before they killed him too. They really hate everyone who isn't a part of their group. They could only provide basic medical care and a place to stay for the night, they escorted us here the next day. I had to sell Larry in order to get us all citizenship to stay in Rivet City and work. Without it you can't get hired."

"I'm sorry Britt."

"Don't be... he went to a nice medical merchant... and you pretty much know the rest... I haven't been off the boat since you where emitted into Dr. Preston's care. I got a job to pay for the treatment and well... there you have it." Santana leans in and kisses Brittany.

"Thank you for sharing... I know it was hard."

"It felt good... to talk about it. I've been battling all of inside for so long I'm surprised I didn't break down sooner." Brittany says with a slight smile.

"You know the part where I had the seizer... that was probably one of the best days of my life." this definitely gets Brittany's attention. "Do you remember back in the vault, my dad always made me read those very dry medical books." Brittany nods. "It's weird because I remember reading all about head injuries... and I always wondered what a patient went through... I always imagined them being in their head reliving their favorite memories... and be able to be surrounded by images of the people they love. But for me it was hell, literally." Brittany looks confused. "I can remember every day I was trapped in my head... and it was like I was in this alternate universe. Everything was opposite, I mean I was in the vault. My dad was there, Amata, everyone... but the worst part was that you weren't there with me. I've never been so alone... I don't know why I was trapped like that. All I knew was that I needed to see you again, and every day I was there was torture. The night I had a seizure I got to hear your voice... and it was... amazing. Sometimes after that... when I was falling to sleep in that twisted world it was like I could feel you. Does any of this make sense, or do I sound like some crazy person?"

"Now I think I understand."

"It was like I knew I was trapped in my head you know... and you were the only thing that kept me for giving into the illusion happening around me."

"I think you owe some of that to me as well." Snix voice interrupts the moment. Sure enough the double was standing in the corner of the room with a smirk on her face. "Come to San... aren't you going to tell her about little ol' me." Snix jokes as she slowly makes her way towards the bed. Brittany notices Santana's gaze and turns to see what has gotten her attention.

"What are you looking at San?"

"Yeah San... what are you looking at."

"Nothing... it's nothing, I was just spacing." she draws her attention back to the blonde.

"I really like your hair like this." Brittany runs her hand through the buzzed hair.

"Really?"

"Yeah... I don't know why, it's just... looks good."

"Yeah... but the pirate patch kind of throws it off. I swear the moment anyone sees an eye patch they think your some sort of evil pirate there to rob them of their caps."

"It does look pretty bad ass... that was something I wanted to talk to you about too. There's this man... his name is Dr. Pinkerton... and according to some rumors floating around Rivet City, he can restore your eyesight."

End...

* * *

><p>See Santana won't remain a sexy pirate forever...<p>

What's going to happen next ... um... lots of stuff. Surgeries ... adventure... maybe sexy times... oh and more Snix.

Review if you want to... no pressure.


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